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FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA 



BY 



EDWARD PIERREPONT. B.A. 

(CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD) 
MEMBRE DU CLUB ALPIN SUISSE 



WITH MAPS 

BY 

LEONARD FORBES BECKWITH, C.E. 

(ECOLE CENTRALE, PARIS) 




G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

New York: 27 and 29 West 23D Street 

London : 25 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden 

1884 



^C> 



Copyright, 
By G. p. PUTNAM'S SONS, 



fSClS 



y^i^ 



Press Of 

G. P. PiUnam\ Sons 

New York 



CONTENTS. 



■<•► 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Introduction .1 

CHAPTER II. 

Summary of the Journey 2 

CHAPTER III. 

From New York to Omaha, and from Omaha to Salt Lake . 5 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Mormon City and the Mormons 17 

CHAPTER V. 
From Salt Lake City to San Francisco .... 41 

CHAPTER VL 

San Francisco. — The Bay. — The Markets. — The Buildings. 

— The Chinese Quarter 43 

CHAPTER VII. 

To the Yosemite Valley 52 

iii 



IV CONTEATS. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

PAGE 

The Yosemite Valley 58 

CHAPTER IX. 

From the Yosemite to the Calaveras Groves. — The Big Trees. 

— North and South Groves. — Fishing, Bear-hunting, etc. . 69 

CHAPTER X. 

Return to San Francisco. — The Climate. — Public and Private 

Buildings, etc 90 

CHAPTER XL 

-Menlo Park. — Gov. Stanford's Horses. — Mr. Flood's Country 

Place. — Mr. D. O. Mills 94 

CHAPTER XII. 

Cliff House. — Sea-Lions. — Golden-Gate Park .... 97 

CHAPTER XIII. 

The Chinese. — William T.Coleman's Speech. — The Chinese 

Quarter . . . 99 

CHAPTER XIV. 

San Francisco to Astoria. — Columbia River. — Portland . .110 

CHAPTER XV. 

The Willamette Valley. — Oregon and California Railroad . 125 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Passing through Puget Sound to Victoria. — Victoria. — British 
Columbia. — The Treaty surrendering the Line of 54° 40'. 

— Big Clams. — Vancouver's Island 129 

CHAPTER XVII. 
From Victoria to Alaska, Steamer "Eureka" .... 141 



CONTENTS. V 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Alaska. — Indians. — Scenery. — Lynch-Law. — Resources. — 

Climate, etc i^o 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Kilesnoo. — Bartlett's Cove. — Pyramid Harbor. — Salmon-Can- 
nery 196 

CHAPTER XX. 

Climate. — Soil. — Products of Alaska. — Back to Victoria . 217 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Back to Victoria. — From Victoria to Portland. — The Forest 

Fires 223 

CHAPTER XXII. 

From Portland along the Columbia River. — The Cascades. — 
The Dalles. — The Cliffs. — The Northern Pacific Road to 
Bozeman 224 

CHAPTER XXIII. 
Bozeman. — Henry Ward Beecher 231 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Yellowstone Park 237 

CHAPTER XXV. 
Tour of the Park 249 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Lost in the Hoodoo Mountains while hunting Elk and Big- 

Horn 265 

CHAPTER XXVII. 
Back at Mammoth Springs Hotel. — The Shooting of a Woman, 309 



VI CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 



PAGE 



Livingston to St. Paul ^j2 

CHAPTER XXIX. 
Chicago again ^jg 

CHAPTER XXX. 
Home again ^j^ 



CHAPTER XXXI. 
Chapter not to be Read .... 



320 



E PACIFIC OCEAN. 




FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTION. 



The writer Is quite aware that he needs an 
introduction since he wishes to be read, and is 
assured by everybody that an unknown author 
will not be read by anybody : But how to be- 
come a ** known " author before one has pub- 
lished anything is the puzzle. 

{ take comfort, however, on remembering a 
remark of Mr. Gladstone, who said that if the 
maiden speech of Disraeli in the House of 
Commons, hissed down and ridiculed as it was, 
had been made by Lord Beaconsfield, it would 
have been considered a great oratorical effort. 

I had seen something of the older civilization 
of Europe, and wanted to see the newer civil- 
ization of the Great West, and the savage life 
of our newly acquired " Russian Possessions." 



NO. I. 
MAP SHOWING THE UNION, CENTRAL, NORTHERN AND CANADA PACIFIC RAILROADS TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 




FROM FIFTH A VENUE TO ALASKA. 



CHAPTER II. 

SUMMARY OF THE JOURNEY. 

On the last day of May, 1883, In company 
with my father, I left Fifth Avenue for Alaska. 

We went by the Union Pacific Railroad to 
Ogden, and down to the Mormon city of Salt 
Lake, then back to Ogden, and by the Central 
Pacific Road to San Francisco. After visiting 
the Yosemite Valley, and the North and South 
groves of giant trees in Calaveras County, San 
Rafael, and Menlo Park, we passed from San 
Francisco Bay through the Golden Gate, and 
up the Pacific Ocean by steamer to Astoria ; 
thence up the Columbia River to the junction 
of the Willamette River, and up the Willamette 
to Portland ; thence up the Willamette Valley 
by the Oregon and California Railroad, two 
hundred and sixty-two miles, to Glendale, its 
present terminus ; then back to Portland, and 
through Puget Sound to Victoria, and on 
through the British waters to Alaska, reaching a 
latitude where there was no night, and where the 
sun rose some four hours after he set. Hav- 



SUMMARY OF THE JOURNEY. 3 

ing sailed in the fiords, straits, bays, and inlets 
of Alaska, above two thousand miles, returning 
by way of Victoria and Puget Sound to Port- 
land, where we took the Northern Pacific Rail- 
way, passing through the magnificent scenery 
of the great Columbia River, and continuing 
on that road until we reached Bozeman, where 
at Fort Ellis we took a government escort, and 
passed through the country seventy-five miles 
(camping out two nights) to Yellowstone Park. 
After making a tour of the park, I went into 
the " Gobjin Land" of the Hoodoo Mountains 
in Wyoming, to shoot elk and '' big-horn of the 
Rockies ; " after which, by the branch road we 
went north to Livino:ston, and took the trunk- 
line of the Northern Pacific to St. Paul, and 
thence to New York by way of Chicago. 

We were absent four months ; and by rail, 
steamer, stage-wagons, and on horseback to- 
gether, we travelled more than twelve thousand 
five hundred miles. 

I kept full notes of each day ; and from them 
I make up this book, in which I hope to give 
some information useful to those who may wish 
to visit the Pacific Coast, or to learn about it. 
Incidents and impressions I have endeavored 
to record with fidelity. But, travelling with 
my father, I was invited to the various dinners 
and entertainments given to him, where we met 



4 FROM FIFTH A VENUF TO ALASKA. 

many intelligent and some eminent men. I 
listened attentively to their varied conversa- 
tions and discussions ; and I dare say that the 
sentiments and opinions herein expressed are 
not original, but rather the filterings through 
my memory of what older and wiser men have 
said. We met while crossing the Rocky Moun- 
tains, at Salt Lake, and everywhere in California 
and Oregon, numbers of interesting men and 
attractive women, to whom we are largely in- 
debted for the pleasure of a journey which 
would otherwise have been often weary and 
monotonous. 

For references to the treaties, laws, and rail- 
road grants, herein mentioned, I am indebted 
to the Hon. Edwards Plerrepont. 

In going from New York to San Francisco 
by the Pennsylvania Central, the Chicago, Bur- 
lington and Quincy, and the Union and Cen- 
tral Pacific roads, the distance Is 3,281 miles. 
The difference In time between the two cities Is 
three hours and fourteen minutes. 



FROM NEW YORK TO OMAHA AND SALT LAKE. 5 



CHAPTER III. 

FROM NEW YORK TO OMAHA, AND FROM OMAHA 
TO SALT LAKE. 

Leaving New York by the Pennsylvania 
limited express train, we reached Chicago in 
twenty-five hours and forty minutes. 

The key of my bedroom at the Palmer House 
had a piece of lead six inches in length arranged 
at right angles, and so cleverly fastened that it 
was impossible to secrete it. Inserting part of 
it in my pocket, I entered the billiard-room, 
where it was mistaken for a six-shooter osten- 
tatiously protruding ; and, becoming an object 
of apparent suspicion, I quickly left it at the 
office. 

Chicago is a remarkable place, about which I 
shall have something to say hereafter. 

Mr. Wallace, the general agent of the Chi- 
cago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad, took us 
over their very large and solid building, in 
which all the chief offices of this great road 
are combined. The building is remarkably 
well constructed. We were indebted to Mr. 
Wallace for many courtesies. 



6 FROM FIFTH A VENUE TO ALASKA. 

We took that road at two o'clock p.m., the 
next day, and arrived at BurHngton late in the 
evening. Crossing the Mississippi, which di- 
vides Illinois from Iowa, we reached Council 
Bluffs the next morning. We found the place 
greatly damaged by a flood which had swept 
away bridges and destroyed several lives. 

The train was admirable in equipment, with 
the best of sleeping and dining-room cars ; and 
the road was in perfect condition. 

Council Bluffs is on the east bank of the 
Missouri River, which divides Iowa from Ne- 
braska. The Union Pacific road commences 
on the east bank, Omaha being on the west. 
Here are excellent arrangements for the trans- 
fer and checking of baggage. No guns were 
allowed in the cars, but arrangements were 
made to carry them safely in the baggage- 
room. 

The bridge at Omaha, across the Missouri 
River, is 2,750 feet long, built on twenty- two 
hollow iron columns, eight and a half feet in 
diameter, sunk to the bed-rock of the river. 

We found on the Union and Central Pacific 
roads, through the entire length, the most care- 
ful and courteous attention from every officer 
and every employe of the roads ; and a surly 
answer, or coarse conduct, we never once ex- 
perienced. The meals at the roadside inns 



FROM NEW YORK TO OMAHA AND SALT LAKE. 7 

were not good ; but any lack of politeness, or 
willingness to impart information or give assist- 
ance, we never met. 

At Omaha, a town of more than forty-five 
thousand inhabitants, we checked our baggage 
for Salt Lake City, and started by the Union 
Pacific road at nine o'clock on the 3d of June. 

On the train I met an Englishman of the 

Seventh Fusileers, a Mr. S , who lived near 

Oxford ; and we, in company with several New- 
Yorkers who joined in the chorus, revived 
memories of the '' 'Varsity," by singing portions 
of " John Peel," "Drink, puppy, drink," and 
other melodious refrains, until the other passen- 
gers thought we were a small detachment of 

the Salvation Army. S , with H and 

I of New York, were all going to leave 

the train at Cheyenne, to go into that business 
w^hich has enticed so many plucky fellows from 
both England and the Eastern States ; namely, 
to begin a rough life of boisterous good health 
in the bracing air of the great grazing plains of 
Wyoming. The hardy life one follows there 
has its many draw^backs, arising from the lack 
of cultivated society, and from having to 
undergo the hardships of cold nights, biting 
blizzards, furious hurricanes, and occasional de- 
struction of property. As a counterbalance 
against these, we have health and vigor restored 



8 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

to many a jaded idler of society ; and he who- 
was once a gay member of the '' Knicker- 
bocker," '' Union," ^'White's," or '' Boodle's," a 
frequenter of the " Burlington," a haunter of the 
" Aquarium," or a dissolute dashing guardsman 
(Ouida's model Englishman), the darling of 
society, and the best of riders, — he it is who, 
through lack of means, or dearth of excitement, 
chooses the wild life of the cattle-driver, with 
no music but the roar of the wind or the dash 
of cataracts, and no partner in the dance but 
his Indian pony. 

The cowboy of whom I have heard and read 
so much is not alv/ays the dare-devil depicted 
in *'The Police News;" for during my whole 
journey from Omaha, during which time I saw 
hundreds of cowboys and cow "punchers," I 
never saw a revolver fired, or any evidence of 
that recklessness which is so proverbial. In 
isolated mining camps, revolvers are recklessly 
carried ; but one might start from New York, 
and make the whole Western trip by the reg- 
ular roads, and seldom see a single exposed 
weapon. There were occasions, on our far- 
ther journey, when it was prudent to be well 
armed. 

Four hundred and fourteen miles from Oma- 
ha, we reached Sidney. From Sidney, stage- 
coaches start daily for Deadwood> 267 miles 



FROM NEW YORK TO OMAHA AND SALT LAKE. 9 

north, where are the celebrated gold-mines in 
the Black Hills of Dakota. 

On the 4th, at half-past three p.m., we reached 
Sherman, the highest elevation on the road, — 
8,235 feet. So gradual is the ascent from 
Omaha, that you would hardly suspect that you 
were going up hill ; and the region over which 
you pass looks not at all like '' crossing the 
Rocky Mountains." The highest grade be- 
tween Cheyenne and Sherman is eighty-eight 
feet per mile. The whole distance is bare of 
trees, has no very steep appearance, and the 
land is only valuable for grazing. The distance 
from Omaha to Sherman is 549 miles, and from 
Sherman to San Francisco 1,318 miles. 

Sherman is a place of wild and lonely desola- 
tion, in the Territory of Wyoming. It is named 
after the distinguished general. On a high 
point south of the station, a monument is ris- 
ing to honor the memory of Oakes Ames, one 
of the most enterprising men whom this coun- 
try has produced. He was cruelly maligned, 
and hastened to his grave by the calumnies 
with which he was pursued in connection with 
the completion of a colossal highway to the 
Pacific, which has done more to perpetuate 
the union of our vast empire than the greatest 
battle which was fought. 

Seventy miles south-west of Sherman is 



lO FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

Long's Peak, and 165 miles to the south is 
Pike's Peak, both visible. 

Laramie City is 573 miles from Omaha, the 
county-seat of Albany County, Wyoming. It 
contains about four thousand inhabitants ; has 
a rolling-mill, but stock-raising is the great 
industry. The ''Laramie Plains" comprise a, 
belt, twenty-five by sixty miles, of the finest 
grazing-lands. Countless buffalo once roamed 
these plains, and had as good title to the lands 
as had the Indians who roamed in like manner. 
It is said that over three thousand horses and 
mules, ninety thousand head of cattle, and as 
many sheep, can now be found within forty 
miles of Laramie. The plains are well watered. 

Carbon is 657 miles from Omaha, and here 
was the first happy discovery of coal on the 
road. Since then, far better mines have been 
found farther west, — at Rock Springs, and at 
Evanston. 

Rawlins is 709 miles from Omaha. Before 
reaching Rawlins we come to the sage-brush 
and alkaline beds : they extend west for more 
than a hundred and twenty miles. The sage- 
brush is a bush about four feet high ; its leaf 
and form are like the garden sage (but the bush 
is much larger), and it tastes like wormwood : 
it grows on the alkaline beds, where nothing- 
else will grow. The alkaline dust through this 



FROM NEW YORK TO OMAHA AND SALT LAKE. II 

region is excessive, filling every car, irritating 
to the eyes, throat, and lips ; and the water of 
the region is very unhealthy for man or beast. 

At Point of Rocks, 805 miles from Omaha, 
Is an artesian well, 1,015 deep, from which 
issues a stream of pure water ; and here are 
extensive coal-mines. On a high bluff, above 
the coal, is a vein of oyster-shells six inches 
thick. Professor Hayden, in his Geological 
Report, says, '' Preserved in the rocks, the 
greatest abundance of deciduous leaves of the 
poplar, oak, elm, and maple, are found. . . . 
Among the plants is a specimen of fan-palm, 
which, at the time it grew here, displayed a 
leaf of enormous dimensions, sometimes hav- 
ing a spread of ten or twelve feet." 

When President Arthur came to the Yellow- 
stone Park, he had with him sea-shells which 
he took from the Rocky Mountain heights. 

At Rock Springs, eight hundred and thirty 
miles from Omaha, is another artesian well, 
1,145 ^^^t deep : the water f^ows in great quan-- 
tities, twenty-six feet above the surface. Rich 
coal-mines are near. From this point to Green 
River, a distance of fifteen miles, the road runs 
through a deep mountain gorge where the 
scenery is quite Impressive. 

Green River is 845 miles from Omaha. The 
bluffs near this station are of peculiar forma- 



12 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

tion : they are perpendicular, rising several 
hundred feet, composed of layers of sediment- 
ary rocks, sandstone, white sand, pebbles, clay, 
and lime, with layers of bowlders also, each 
layer of a different shade of color. The hills 
around are capped with a yellowish sandstone 
in peculiar castellated forms. This scenery has 
a just celebrity. 

At Granger, 876 miles from Omaha, the 
Oregon Short Line, a branch of the Union 
Pacific, begins, and runs north-west through 
Oregon to Baker City, and, in connection with 
the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company^ 
to the Columbia River. 

At Hilliard, 942 miles from Omaha, is a 
flume crossing the track twenty feet above it, 
in which large quantities of lumber are floated 
from the Uintah Mountains, between twenty 
and thirty miles to the south. Here are 
located the Cameron bee-hive kilns, for burn- 
ing charcoal. 

Castle Rocks are about 975 miles west of 
Omaha, and form a long line of sandstone 
bluffs, on the rio^ht bank of Echo Canon, and 
vary in height from five hundred to fifteen hun- 
dred feet. In the distance they look like vast 
castles. Nine miles west of Echo City we 
come to the thousand-mile tree, a thousand 
miles from Omaha : it is a branching pine, and 



FROM NEW YORK TO OMAHA AND SALT LAKE. 1 3 

on its trunk is the notice. We have passed 
through the Wasatch Mountains, and now come 
to the valley of the Great Salt Lake. 

At Ogden, 1,032 miles from Omaha, and 835 
from San Francisco, we reach the end of the 
Union-Pacific Road, and begin the Central 
Pacific. The elevation here is 4,294 feet. 
Ogden is said to contain six thousand five hun- 
dred inhabitants, mostly Mormons. Valuable 
mines are reported as near the town, and the 
waters of the Ogden River irrigate the place. 
The Wasatch Mountains, towering high above 
with their granite walls, made the surrounding 
scenery imposing, and the air salubrious. 

We came through from Omaha to Ogden 
the first week in June, and were surprised to 
find the roads for a thousand miles so dusty, 
the treeless hills so barren, no green of any 
kind, — a general aspect of barrenness, and 
but few crags or mountain peaks to break the 
dreary monotony. Miles of snow-fences and 
vast snow-sheds were frequent ; but we learned 
that live stock thrive and fatten upon the dried 
grasses, which remain nutritious, as in Califor- 
nia, till the autumn rains destroy the nutriment, 
when new grasses spring up, and make the hills 
green again before November. It is certain 
that the yearly number of sheep, mules, cattle, 
and horses, which are reared along this road, is 



14 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

Immense. Durlno- the summer months there 
is no rain in the Rocky Mountains, Cahfornia, 
or the Yellowstone Park. 

It matters little what the Government ad- 
vanced to build the Central and Pacific roads. 
This great highway, is of priceless value to the 
nation : had it cost the Federal treasury ten 
times more than it did, it were money well in- 
vested. The Government did not advance cash, 
but loaned its credit in the form of six-per-cent 
bonds, at thirty years, with interest half yearly. 
On the ist of July, 1862, in the heat of the 
war, President Lincoln signed a bill which was 
the charter of the road. The Act was entitled : 
^' An Act to aid in the construction of a railroad 
and telegraph line from the Missouri River to 
the Pacific Ocean, and to secure to the Govern- 
ment the use of the same for postal, military, 
and other purposes." The grant of land was 
every alternate section for twenty miles on each 
side of the road ; that is, twenty sections for 
each mile, or twelve thousand eight hundred 
acres a mile, a section being six hundred and 
forty acres. In addition to the land grant, the 
Government, In aid of the work, issued Its 
bonds to the Union Pacific, in all $27,226,512 ; 
to the Central Pacific, In all $25,885,120. Such 
is the pecuniary benefit of the road, that. If no 
part of the government subsidy is ever repaid. 



FROM NEW YORK TO OMAHA AND SALT LAKE. 1 5 

the Government will have saved many millions 
by its loan of bonds. 

The building of the Pacific Road commenced 
Nov. 5, 1865, on the Missouri River near 
Omaha. By the Act of 1862, the time of com- 
pletion was limited to July i, 1876. It was fin- 
ished in three years six months and ten days. 
On the loth of May, 1869, the Pacific met the 
Central at Promontory Point, Utah Territory. 

At Ogden we are near the Great Salt Lake, 
which is about a hundred miles long by forty- 
five miles wide. Its general direction is from 
north-west to south-east ; and, as you will see 
by the map, Ogden is about midway of the lake, 
a short distance to the east. The lake has no 
outlet, though many rivers empty into it, — the 
rivers Jordan, Weber, and others. Of late the 
waters have risen slowly, and they are now 
twelve feet higher than they were twenty years 
ago. The water is so buoyant that it is diffi- 
cult to swim in it, and very difficult for a steamer 
to navigate it. 

The water is exceedingly salt, and very acrid ; 
and the white salt along the shores will take 
the skin from the tongue which tastes it too 
freely. While bathing with others in the lake, 
I carelessly swallowed a little of the water, and 
my throat closed, and I was nearly suffocated : 
a man who saw the trouble hastened to my 



1 6 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

relief with a flask of brandy, without which I 
never could have reached the shore. Several 
bathers have been made seriously ill by inad- 
vertently allowing a drop from a wave to enter 
the throat ; and some have died from a swallow 
of it. No living thing is found anywhere in 
the lake's vast waters. No ice ever forms upon 
it. I better understand the passage in the 
Bible where the swine " ran violently down 
a steep place, and were choked!' 

We were told that a German Jew went to 
bathe in this lake, and was never seen again. 
His clothes were found in the bathing-house, 
but all search for his body proved fruitless. It 
has since attracted notice, that his life was in- 
sured for thirty thousand dollars, and that his 
cheerful wife, after arranging his affairs, soon 
left the city with the insurance-money. The 
impression prevails, that he had other clothing, 
and played the game for the purpose of secur- 
ing the money ; since the buoyancy of the 
waters would surely have disclosed the dead 
body if drowned in the lake. 



THE MORMON CITY AND THE MORMONS. 1/ 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE MORMON CITY AND THE MORMONS. 

Salt Lake City is near the south end of the 
lake, in latitude 40"" 47' north, and is thirty- 
eight miles south of Ogden. It lies at the 
foot-hills of the Wasatch Mountains, at the 
northerly end of a level plain which is about 
forty miles long and fifteen wide, and is called 
the Valley of the Jordan. The Jordan River 
runs northerly from Utah Lake, nearly forty 
.fniles south of the city, to the west of the town, 
and empties into Salt Lake twelve miles distant. 
These snow-topped mountains, from twelve to 
thirteen thousand feet high, form nearly a semi- 
circle on the east of the plain, and nightly cool 
the city after the cloudless sun has heated the 
valley. There are no summer rains ; but copi- 
ous mountain streams run through the streets 
on each side, and the lands around are green 
and productive from easy irrigation. On the 
south-west the Oquirr range of mountains seem 
to bound the plain, and far beyond is a moun- 



1 8 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

tain where abundant rock-salt is found in a re- 
markably pure state. 

On June 8 Modjeska arrived at the Walker 
House, and created some little excitement. In 
the evening we went to hear her play in ''As 
You Like It," in company with Gov. and Mrs. 
Murray. 

The Mormons are fond of giving Bible names 
to their children ; one child of the President 
being called Ezra, another Moses. 

The Mormons gave us a history of their trials 
and persecutions, of their wanderings from Mis- 
souri and Illinois ; and how, when they were in 
the latter State, they volunteered five hundred 
strong to the Mexican War. 

Mr. Cannon drove us to the warm Sulphur 
Springs, ninety-six degrees, especially good for 
cutaneous diseases. Bathing in this spring is 
excessively weakening. We observed one man 
with a bald head taking his tub, and as he had 
an ^g'g in his hand we watched him with some 
curiosity. After breaking the ^'gg, and dividing 
the contents in each half-shell like a sherry- 
cobbler slinger, he first rubbed his hairless top 
with the white, and then with the yolk, expect- 
ing the hair to rise like Jack's beanstalk, — 
some barber having probably sold him the 
receipt. While we remained, no apparent 
transformation took place on his bald head ; 



THE MORMON CITY AND THE MORMONS. 1 9 

and since the flies began to be attracted by the 
yolk I felt like giving him the well-known rec- 
ommendation, — that of painting a cobweb on 
his cranium while the fly months lasted. After 
going to the spot where this sickly warm mix- 
ture rises, we drove on to the hot springs, 
where the water is nearly boiling, an ^<g^ being 
easily cooked in a few minutes. 

Fort Douglass, a military post, is situated on 
the east side of the Jordan, four miles from the 
river and three miles east of the city. It is 
on a high base of the mountains sloping west. 
The officers' houses are of uniform appearance, 
well built in a semicircle, with a green lawn 
in front, cheerful with running water cold and 
abundant, and the whole combination is truly 
charming. The post is now commanded by 
the gallant Gen. McCook. Not far away is the 
Emma Mine, and many other mines which are 
worked. 

We were told by Gen. McCook that he had 
seen clams at Puget Sound weighing fifteen 
pounds, tender, of delicate flavor, and excellent 
for food. We shall speak of these mammoth 
clams farther on. 

We were assured that Utah Territory is very 
rich in gold, silver, coal, iron, copper, zinc, cin- 
nabar, and every other metal found in the West; 
and it is the opinion, that, had not Brigham 



20 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

Young warned his Mormon followers against 
'' seeking for corrupting gold," and told them to 
confine themselves to "multiplying, and replen- 
ishing the earth," Utah would have developed 
mineral wealth equal to that of California. 
The Mormons are not miners ; but there are 
many smelting-furnaces in and around Salt 
Lake City, and a large number of manufactur- 
ing establishments. 

The population of Salt Lake City is now 
twenty-seven thousand. It seems to be a 
well-ordered and prosperous town, and is Illu- 
minated with electric lights. The streets are 
wide, bordered with trees, and laid out at right 
angles. The cold streams from the snow moun- 
tains, which wash the streets on either side In 
rapid flow, add largely to the health, comfort, 
and cheerfulness of the place. 

The Mormon Tabernacle Is a strange-looking 
building of immense proportions. It is an 
ellipse ; the inner axes are one hundred and 
fifty feet by two hundred and fifty ; the roof is 
a single arch supported by forty-six large col- 
umns of cut stone. It will hold fourteen 
thousand people. Its acoustic properties are 
wonderful : the dropping of a pin Into a hat 
can easily be heard from one end to the other. 
We were Informed that the preachers were called 
upon just as the Divine influence prompted, 



THE MORMON CITY AND THE MORMONS. 21 

being In this respect somewhat like the Plym- 
outh Brotherhood in England. 

The Temple is a Gothic structure, built of 
granite, not yet complete. Its base is one hun- 
dred and sixteen by one hundred and ninety 
feet. It will be very high, with five pointed 
towers. The base walls are sixteen feet thick, 
built with inverted arches of granite blocks. 
It seems built for eternity — rather inconsistent 
for Latter-Day Saints who believe in an early 
'' second coming." 

From the top of the main wall we obtained 
a grand view of the magnificent valley, which 
far exceeds in size any thing I have seen in Italy, 
Switzerland, France, or Germany. We were in 
a basin which from the shell-deposits must have 
once been a huge lake twenty miles by forty. 
All around us, even now the sixth day of June, 
vast mountains rose to a height of thirteen 
thousand feet in snowy grandeur ; and at a dis- 
tance of twenty miles we could see the Great 
Salt Lake, rich fertility greeting us on all sides. 
With such natural advantages, no wonder that 
Brigham Young, even if this had not been 
seen by him through divine revelation in a 
dream, could hardly have refrained from say- 
ing, " Here we will pitch our camp, and build 
our temple." 

In this Temple w^e were shown the places of 



22 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

the Endowment House, the baptismal font 
(their baptism is by immersion), and the '' Holy 
of holies ; " where we were told that angels 
were expected to be met, and where probably 
Christ the Saviour would be seen (this was 
said with the utmost seriousness and apparent 
belief). 

While my father was Attorney- General in the 
Cabinet of Gen. Grant, he became acquainted 
with Mr. Georg-e Q. Cannon, then the delegate 
to Congress from Utah. Mr. Cannon was now 
very polite to us, and introduced us to the 
president and council of the church. 

The next day we dined at the Amelia Palace 
(as it is called), the spacious residence of the 
president of the hierarchy, where we met Mr, 
Kane the present delegate to Congress, Mr. 
Cannon, and others of the church, besides some 
of the daughters of Mr. John Taylor the presi- 
dent. Mr. Taylor is a tall, venerable old gen- 
tleman, with white hair, courteous manners, and 
of quiet and cultivated demeanor: he was 
dressed in black, with a white cravat, and 
seemed altogether like a Presbyterian clergy- 
man of the old school, with a rich congregation, 
a large salary, and sincere faith. The dinner 
was excellent, served in good style, and the 
currant-wine was delicious. The conversation 
was upon general subjects, such as would have 



THE MORMON CITY AND THE MORMONS. 23 

been discussed at a dinner of intelligent gentle- 
men in New York. 

Those who fancy that the Mormon leaders 
lack shrewdness, or fixedness of purpose, are 
mistaken. 

In Utah, the women all vote the same as 
men. 

Their temples and religious houses are built 
by tithes, which the faithful contribute for the 
church. Saturday is the day for payment ; and 
throughout the morning wagon after wagon 
comes slowly through the dusty street, bearing 
its little offering. One poor Scandinavian wo- 
man is now passing before me with a dozen eggs, 
the tenth of her week's increase ; another now 
fills her place, tightly holding three obstreper- 
ous hens ; still another Mormon lengthens the 
line, chiding good-humoredly his two oxen bear- 
ing along some hay and turnips, his tenth ; 
still one more passes, holding with one hand 
the rope which leads a cow, while her other 
grasps the reins of her horse. 

Under the Edmunds Bill of last winter, a 
commission was appointed to take the registry 
of voters in Utah, and to exclude all polyga- 
mists. Gov. Ramsay of Minnesota was chair- 
man of the commission, — an eminent and 
experienced public man, whom my father knew 
well. He told us at Salt Lake, in early June, 



24 FROM FIFTH A VENUE TO ALASKA. 

that the commission had finished its work, ex^ 
ercising all the power which the law gave them ; 
that he suspected, notwithstanding, that the 
Mormons would succeed at the election in Au- 
gust. The election took place on the 6th of 
August, and every member of the legislature is 
a Mormon. Under this faithfully executed com- 
mission, all, both men and women, were disfran- 
chised, who had ever married a second wife while 
the first was living, or who had ever taken a 
husband who had another wife. In this way, all 
polygamists were excluded from the polls, to the- 
number of twelve thousand. The Mormons of 
Utah are a hundred and thirty thousand. 

No doubt there is some difficulty in dealing 
with the Mormon question. Mormon obedience. 
to Church authority is absolute : the Church is 
the tribunal to which all their disputes are sub- 
mitted. Their readiness to make any sacrifice^ 
or suffer any privations, in support of their creed, 
has been attested. Their prosperity under trials 
has largely increased ; and the idea that if let 
alone they will disband, and become dispersed, 
belongs only to those who are ignorant of the 
facts, of past history, and of human nature. 
Their priesthood has concentrated power, and 
through their tithing-system commands great 
wealth. Outside of any fanaticism, this grati- 
fies their able leaders, and most of their believ- 



THE MORMON CITY AND THE MORMONS. 2$ 

ing followers are far better off than ever be- 
fore : they are sure of comfortable support and 
a decent burial. 

We met several Christian gentlemen of large 
intelligence, who were inclined to suspect that 
the growth of Mormonism was partly due to the 
evils which modern luxury and extravagance 
have brought upon us, in consequence of which 
young men cannot support a family, and ^^oung 
women are deprived of their natural exercise 
of the domestic affections. They say that it is 
quite certain, that, if the wealth which is earned 
by the nation were more evenly distributed, 
more women could get married ; and that no 
young woman who could get a single husband 
would ever marry a man who had a plurality of 
wives ; and that the Mormon Church is largely 
increased by those who seek refuge from pov- 
erty and degradation, against which the Gentile 
Church, with all its abounding luxury and riches, 
does not protect them. 

Converts are coming in from the poorer 
class of the South. Scandinavia, Germany, 
England, Wales, and even Scotland (not Ire- 
land), are sending recruits in abundance. The 
Church sends missionaries far and wide to pro- 
mulgate its gospel, and promises a home for- 
ever, free from want, to all who will lead an 
industrious and frugal life. They do not call 



26 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

themselves " Mormons," but " Latter - Day 
Saints." 

Contrary to our expectations, we found them 
the most severely orthodox of any sect we have 
met. They believe in the plenary inspiration 
of the Old and New Testaments, and receive 
every word of these sacred books in absolute 
faith, and according to their literal reading, 
obscured by no scientific doubts or develop- 
ment theories. They cite profusely from the 
Bible in support of their every doctrine ; and 
from the practices of Abraham, to the latest of 
the wise men of old whom we are taught to 
revere, they defend their views about polygamy : 
they claim that the practice was enjoined by 
the God of Abraham, and was followed by all the 
faithful of Abraham's seed ; that it tends to 
purity and good order, and will prevent de- 
bauchery, celibacy, and the poverty and degra- 
dation of women. They do not claim that the 
teachings of the '' Book of Mormon," in the 
smallest measure, contravene the teachings 
of the Old and New Testaments ; but that it 
is merely an additional revelation, through a 
prophet of the Lord, coming down so late as 
four hundred and twenty years after the birth 
of Christ. 

Mr. Cannon presented us with several vol- 
umes, which give a history of the Mormon 



THE MORMON CITY AND THE MORMONS. 2/ 

Church, and a statement of their doctrines ; from 
these I give the following summary : — 

The " Book of Mormon " which was presented 
is an English edition of six hundred and twenty- 
three handsomely printed pages. It is divided 
into chapters and verses, and is written much 
after the style of the Old Testament. It pro- 
fesses to be an inspired historic book, and claims 
to give the origin and history of the North- 
American Indians. It teaches, that, when the 
Lord confounded the languages at the Tower 
of Babel, he led forth a colony from thence to the 
Western Continent, which is now called Amer- 
ica ; that this colony, after crossing the ocean in 
eight vessels, and landing In that country, be 
came in process of time a great nation. They in- 
habited America for some fifteen hundred years 
they were at length destroyed for their wicked 
ness. A prophet by the name of Ether wrot 
their history, and an account of their destruc 
tlon. Ether lived to witness their entire destrue 
tlon, and deposited his record where it was after- 
wards found by a colony of Israelites who came 
from Jerusalem six hundred years before Christ, 
and re-peopled America. This last colony were 
descendants of the tribe of Joseph. They grew 
and multiplied, and finally gave rise to two 
mighty nations. The people of one of these 
nations were called Nephites, one Nephi be- 



28 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

ing their founder ; the other were called Lam- 
anites, after a leader named Laman. The Lam- 
anltes became a dark and benighted people, of 
whom the American Indians are still a remnant. 
The Nephites were an enlightened and civil- 
ized people ; they were a people highly favored 
of the Lord ; they had visions, angels, and the 
gift of prophecy among them from age to age ; 
and finally they were blessed with a personal 
appearance of Jesus Christ after his resurrec- 
tion, from whose mouth they received the doc- 
trine of the gospel, and a knowledge of the 
future down through all succeeding ages. But 
after all the blessings and privileges conferred 
upon them, they fell into great wickedness in 
the third and fourth centuries of the Christian 
era, and finally were destroyed by the hands of 
the Lamanites. This destruction took place 
about four hundred years after Christ. 

Mormon lived in that age of the world, and 
was a Nephite and a prophet of the Lord. He, 
by the commandment of the Lord, made an 
abridgment of the sacred records, which con- 
tained the history of his forefathers, and the 
prophecies and gospel which had been revealed 
among them ; to which he added a sketch of 
the history of his own time, and the destruc- 
tion of his nation. Previous to his death, the 
abridged records fell into the hands of his soa 



THE MORMON CITY AND THE MORMONS. 29 

Moroni, who continued them down to A. D. 
420 ; at which time he deposited them care- 
fully in the earth, on a hill which was then 
called Cumorah, but is situated in Ontario 
County, township of Manchester, and State of 
New York, N.A. This he did in order to pre- 
serve them from the Lamanites, who overran 
the country, and sought to destroy them and all 
the records pertaining to the Nephites. This 
record lay concealed, or sealed up, from A.D. 
420, to Sept. 22, 1827; at which time it was 
found by Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., he being 
directed thither by an angel of the Lord. 

This Joseph Smith was born in the town of 
Sharon, Windsor County, Vt., on the 23d De- 
cember, 1805, of very humble parents. When 
he was ten years old, they removed to Palmyra 
in the State of New York. When he was 
seventeen years old, he claimed to have had a 
vision, in which a heavenly messenger revealed 
to him that certain sacred records engraved on 
plates were buried in the earth, which would be 
delivered to him. He says : — 

" I left the field, and went to the place where the 
messenger had told me the plates were deposited ; 
and, owing to the distinctness of the vision which I 
had had concerning it, I knew the place the instant 
I arrived there. Convenient to the village of Man- 
chester, Ontario County, N.Y., stands a hill of con- 



30 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

siderable size, and the most elevated of any in the 
neighborhood. On the west side of this hill, not far 
from the top, under a stone of considerable size, lay 
the plates, deposited in a stone box. This stone was 
thick and rounding in the middle on the upper side, 
and thinner towards the edges, so that the middle 
part of it was visible above the ground, but the edge 
all round was covered with earth. Having removed 
the earth, and obtained a lever, which I got fixed 
under the edge of the stone, and with a little exer- 
tion raised it up, I looked in ; and there indeed I 
beheld the plates, the Urim and Thummim, and 
the breastplate, as stated by the messenger. The 
box in which they lay was formed by laying stones 
together in some kind of cement. In the bottom of 
the box were laid two stones crossways of the box ; 
and on these stones lay the plates and the other 
things with them. I made an attempt to take them 
out, but was forbidden by the messenger ; and was 
again informed that the time for bringing them forth 
had not yet arrived, neither would until four years 
from that time ; but he told me that I should come 
to that place precisely in one year from that time, 
and that he would there meet with me, and that I 
should continue to do so until the time should come 
for obtaining the plates." 

It is asserted that once in each year, after 
the interview with the angel, before referred to, 
in 1823, Joseph repaired to the hill where the 
plates were still deposited, where he each time 
met with this same heavenly messenger, and 



THE MORMON CITY AND THE MORMONS, 31 

received further instructions, until the time was 
fully arrived when the plates were to be deliv- 
ered into his hands; which took place on the 
22d of September, 1827. He then, it is claimed, 
provided himself a home with his father-in-law 
in Northern Pennsylvania, and began the trans- 
lation of the plates by the gift and power of 
God, through the means of the Urim and 
Thummim. 

Joseph Smith was killed by a mob at Car- 
thage, III, June 27, 1844; and Brigham Young 
succeeded him as president of " the Church of 
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints." He led 
the Mormons across the dreary wilderness of 
the Rocky Mountains, out of the United States, 
and settled by the Great Salt Lake in the Re- 
public of Mexico. On the 24th of July, 1847, 
his advance guard entered the valley ; and on 
the 31st of July, Salt Lake City was commenced. 
By the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo in 1848, 
this territory was ceded to the United States. 

Brigham Young was born in Whitingham, Vt., 
June I, 1801. His father served under Wash- 
ington in the Revolution. He was originally a 
Methodist ; and in 1830 he first saw the '' Book 
of Mormon," and became a firm believer, and 
was baptized into the Mormon Church two 
years later. He established a prosperous com- 
munity, and died at Salt Lake City, Aug. 29, 



32 FROM FIFTH AVFNUE TO ALASKA, 

1877 ; and was succeeded by John Taylor, who 
was severely wounded by the mob at Carthage 
when they assassinated Joseph Smith. Brig- 
ham Young took an active part in all the public 
improvements likely to advance the interest 
of the Territory, and facilitate communication 
with the East. He counselled his followers 
against the pursuit of gold by mining, and 
urged them to engage in agricultural pursuits. 
He died rich, at the head of the Mormon 
hierarchy. 

Notwithstanding the example of Abraham 
and the practices of Solomon, it shocks the re- 
ligious sentiments of every Christian to see one 
man with several wives and several families of 
children, and we feel that no decent man can 
have more than one wife ; and the facility with 
which divorces are granted, and successive wives 
and successive husbands are taken by many 
people, bodes no good to the Republic, and 
gives the Mormons the opportunity, of which 
they avail themselves, to reproach us. 

If it is difficult to deal with the Mormon 
question, time will only enhance the difficulty. 
When Utah shall have the requisite population, 
and with a republican form of constitution 
applies to be admitted as an independent State, 
she must be received, unless rejected on some 
reasonable ground. If she becomes a sove- 



THE MORMON CITY AND THE MORMONS. 33 

reign State, the Federal Government cannot 
interfere with laws which she may enact, relat- 
ing to marriage, divorce, descent of property, 
legitimacy, or any domestic matter in harmony 
with republican government, and not in viola- 
tion of the Constitution of the United States. 
If refused admittance on the ground of her 
peculiar faith, party politics are likely to inter- 
vene ; and one side or the^ other may consider 
how two new senators and two additional repre- 
sentatives may influence the presidency. 

We had supposed that polygamy, so abhor- 
rent to all our ideas of Christian civilization, 
was the great objection to the Mormons ; but 
Gov. Murray assured us that it is of small impor- 
tance compared to their disobedience and utter 
disloyalty to the Constitution and laws of the 
United States, and expressed to us his amaze- 
ment at the indifference of the loyal and Chris- 
tian East, to what he considered a great 
abomination, tending to undermine the true 
religion and subversive of republican govern- 
ment. He assured us that the Mormons openly 
set at defiance the Acts of Congress ; that they 
were loyal to the decrees of the Mormon priest- 
hood, and disloyal to the Constitution and laws 
of the United States. 

If the governor's statements are correct, one 
fails to see why Mormons who break the laws 



34 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

are not punished, the same as other citizens 
who violate the statutes. If a citizen of Utah 
robs the mail, or commits a rape, the laws 
of the United States can deal with him, and 
the Government would not have executed the 
law against the guilty offender by depriving 
him of the right to vote. There are laws 
enough applicable to Utah against bigamy, 
arson, robbery, slavery, and polygamy : Let 
THEM BE ENFORCED. If there are not enough, 
let them be enacted. Some of our countrymen 
think it a lame and impotent conclusion to 
admit that the United States cannot enforce 
her laws, and that therefore popular govern- 
ment must be abandoned in the Territory. The 
Valley of the Jordan is capable of sustaining a 
large population, and Utah is rapidly increasing: 
we having long since established a Territorial 
government over her, under which the people 
annually elect a legislature, and in conformity 
to which they have for many years sent dele- 
gates to Congress. It would be novel in our 
history to take away the elective franchise from 
all the people, the innocent and the guilty, 
and place the government of the Territory in 
commission. 

Senator Edmunds, than whom no one Is 
more eminent as a constitutional lawyer, writes 
to '' The Independent : " — 



THE MORMON CITY AND THE MORMONS. 35 

" Polygamy seems to me to be one of those evils 
that are to be overcome by processes apparently 
slow, and by means that will gather into the opposi- 
tion to it all that portion of the Mormon people — 
,and it is considerable — who do not believe in the 
plural-marriage business. I have good reason to 
believe, that, since the passage of the last act, polyg- 
amous marriages have almost entirely ceased there, 
and that, with firm and capable administration of 
the law, they will not be revived. The difficulty 
with the proposition to put the government of the 
Territory into the hands of a commission is : — 

^^ First, That I believe it to be entirely unconstitu- 
tional, if the commission is to be given any law- 
making power ; and, I fear, 

" Second, Quite impracticable unless a local law- 
making power shall be lodged somewhere. 

" Third, It is revolutionary, and deprives the in- 
nocent as well as the guilty of all voice in public 
affairs. Nothing but the direst need could justify 
such a step. 

^'Fourth, It is quite clear to my mind, that the sup- 
pression of polygamy will be just as far off with the 
government of the Territory in the hands of a com- 
mission as it is now, if not farther; for it will solidify 
and intensify a class feeling of the Mormons, and 
tend to draw to the support of the hierarchy and 
polygamists the whole body of the Mormon people." 

The practice of polygamy is not general 
among the Mormons, nor is it likely to increase 
in the ratio of population. Since Solomon,. 



36 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

with his seven hundred wives, found it all 
'' vanity and vexation of spirit," he has had no 
rival ; most men finding the management of 
one wife quite equal to their strength. 

The advance of Christian civilization, and 
the influence of public opinion, already demand 
that the same power which put down slavery 
shall end polygamy. But laws have nothing to 
do with faith in Joseph Smith, or belief in the 
inspiration of the " Book of Mormon." This 
book nowhere enjoins polygamy : the idea of 
plurality of wives came of an Independent rev- 
elation, pretended to have been communicated 
through Joseph Smith. 

In the preface to this " Book of Mormon " is 
the following : — 

THE TESTIMONY OF EIGHT WITNESSES. 
Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, 
and people unto whom this work shall come, that 
Joseph Smith, jun., the translator of this work, has 
shewn unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, 
which have the appearance of gold ; and as many of 
the leaves as the said Smith has translated, we did 
handle with our hands ; and we also saw the engrav- 
ings thereon, all of which has the appearance of 
ancient work, and of curious workmanship. And 
this we bear record with words of soberness, that 
the said Smith has shewn unto us, for we have seen 
and hefted, and know of a surety that the said 
Smith has got the plates of which we have spoken. 



THE MORMON CITY AND THE MORMONS. 2)7 

And we give our names unto the world, to witness 
unto the world that which we have seen ; and we lie 
not, God bearing witness of it. 

CHRISTIAN WHITMER, HIRAM PAGE, 

JACOB WHITMER, JOSEPH SMITH, Sen. 

PETER WHITMER, Jun. HYRUM SMITH, 

JOHN .WHITMER, SAMUEL H. SMITH, 

Where are these golden plates, engraven 
with the "sacred record"? Where are the 
'' Urim and Thummim " by the aid of which 
the engraving was translated ? When my 
father put these questions to a believing Mor- 
mon, he looked hurt and bewildered as did the 
negro preacher, who, while loudly exhorting his 
brethren to repentance, finally wound up his 
peroration by giving his audience a glowing 
description of the creation, as follows : " My 
brederen, de good Lord stuck out his eye, and 
gazed ober de whole earth, and den he said, 
' Let us make a man : ' so den he took some 
wet clay by de ribber side, just ob de right sort, 
and he moulded his arms, and den de legs, and 
den he put a head on him, and sot him up 
agin a fence." A young fellow in the front 
row at this stage shouted out, " War dot fence 
come from ? " The old preacher paused one 
moment : then a look of sadness came over his 
withered face ; and, sternly pointing his long 
forefinger at the reprobate, he said, '' T'ree 



38 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

more of dem questions will undermine de whole 
system ob t'eology." 

It seems amazing that sane men can beheve 
that there ever were any such plates ; and yet 
we know that the Buddhists far outnumber all 
the Christian sects combined, that the followers 
of Confucius are more than the followers of 
Christ, and that the Mahometans largely out- 
number all the Protestant Christians, showing 
that false religions have more votaries than the 
true. 

We have no right to interfere with Mormon 
faith, however preposterous ; but when Mor- 
mons, or any other sect, disobey the laws, the 
Government should enforce obedience at any 
cost. 

I do not claim to have any valuable judgment 
upon this subject, and only jot down the sub- 
stance of many discussions which I have heard ; 
but I cannot understand why the laws of the 
United States should not be enforced in the 
Territory of Utah, the same as in our other 
Territories. 

At Salt Lake it seldom rains in summer ; but 
the facilities for irrigation are ample, and three 
good crops of luzerne clover are procured in 
a season : and, though the midday is hot, the 
nights are always cool. 

It is conceded by all that the Mormons are 



THE MORMON CITY AND THE MORMONS. 39 

temperate, industrious, and economical. The 
Church, and not the State, decides disputes 
between contending Mormons. Its authority 
is absolute, and this concentration of power 
over willing obedience seems to aid the accu- 
mulation of wealth. 

The city has two commodious theatres, many 
fine buildings, and several beautiful mansions, 
v/ith charming lawns, flowers, and shrubbery. 
Besides the Amelia Palace where the president 
resides, there are other residences equally fine : 
the house of Mr. Jennings the mayor, where 
we were entertained, would attract attention by 
its size and beautiful grounds, in any city of 
the East. We were much about the city, both 
by night as well as by day ; and it seemed 
orderly and generally well cared for, and Gov. 
Murray told us that it was so. He, however, at 
all times denounced the Mormons, not so much 
on account of their polygamous doctrines, but 
chiefly on account of what he considered their 
disloyalty to the Union. 

A walk about the Mormon city after night- 
fall will reveal that it is by no means free from 
the vices of other cities of its size. 

The plural wives and different families of 
the chief Mormons are not placed in the same 
house, but have separate dwellings. The head 
of a family has less trouble about keeping good 



40 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

servants than the Gentiles have. If a laundress, 
housemaid, or cook proves herself acceptable, he 
can marry as many such as he chooses : and the 
maid being "sealed unto him" is his servant 
for life, — a slavery which seems voluntary ; 
but this also imposes the obligation of care, 
protection, and support upon the man. 

Polygamy cannot last long : all the better 
instincts as well as the principles of our people 
are against it. 



FROM SALT LAKE TO SAN FRANCISCO. 41 



CHAPTER V. 

FROM SALT LAKE CITY TO SAN FRANCISCO. 

Wonderful is the railroad-train ! The first 
that ever ran over an American road was (in 
183 1 ) from Albany to Schenectady, N.Y. Mr. 
Sidney Dillon, now president of the Union 
Pacific, is said to have been on that train. 

We are now on the Central Pacific Road,, 
one thousand and thirty-two miles from Omaha, 
and eight hundred and thirty-five miles from 
San Francisco. Fifty-two miles west of Ogden 
is Promontory, where the last spike uniting the 
two roads was driven on the loth of May, 1869. 
To accomplish this, ten miles of track were laid 
in one day on the Central Pacific Road. 

Eleven hundred miles from Omaha com- 
mences the American Desert ; and for a hun- 
dred miles it is a desert Indeed, In which you 
swallow alkaline dust at every breath. The 
dusty desert continues until you reach Wads- 
worth, 1,587 miles from Omaha, and 555 miles 
from Ogden. 1,633 miles from Omaha, we 
reach California. 



42 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

Summit is 1,667 n^iles from Omaha, and the 
highest point of the Sierra Nevada Mountains 
passed over by the Central Road. It is at an 
elevation of 7,017 feet; but granite peaks are 
near, rising over 10,000 feet. There are many 
miles of snowsheds, and one tunnel of 1,659 
feet, in these mountains. 

Near Colfax, 1,722 miles from Omaha, is 
some grand scenery. 

Sacramento is 1,776 miles from Omaha, and 
ninety-one miles from San Francisco. Until 
1870 Sacramento was the end of the Central 
Pacific Road ; but when the road from Sacra- 
mento to San Francisco was completed (called 
the Western Pacific), it was consolidated with 
the Central Pacific. This is a thriving town, 
on the east bank of the Sacramento River, 
of some twenty-eight thousand inhabitants. 
The country round is exceedingly fertile and 
beautiful : vineyards, fruit-orchards, and im- 
mense wheat-fields spread over vast areas. We 
reached there on the nth of June, and much 
wheat was already harvested. 



SAN FRANCISCO. 43 



CHAPTER VI. 

SAN FRANCISCO. — THE BAY. — THE MARKETS. — THE 
BUILDINGS.— THE CHINESE QUARTER. 

On Monday, before eleven o'clock on the 
nth of June, we reached Oakland Pier; and, 
sailing five miles by steamer across the bay, 
we reached the Palace Hotel in San Francisco 
before twelve o'clock. 

. A remarkable city it is. It lies on the west 
side of a bay more than fifty miles long, large 
enough to float the navies of the world. On 
the west side of the narrow strip of land at 
whose north extremity the city stands, are 
mountains which entirely conceal the ocean 
and protect the bay. The Golden Gate, very 
deep and narrow, scarce three-quarters of a 
mile wide, is the only way to the great ocean. 

We went to the Palace Hotel, which no vis- 
itor should fail to visit, if only for a few hours. 
It is the largest hotel in the world, with its 
seven hundred and fifty rooms, its seven vast 
stories, dining-rooms, electric bells, and every 
modern convenience ; to say nothing of the an- 



44 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

nouncement that It Is earthquake-proof, which 
means that large Iron anchors hold It together, 
rendering it tolerably secure against an occa- 
sional danger. The table d'hote is poor, each 
waiter having the air of one who had never 
been feed and who never expected to be ; the 
restaurant, on the contrary, being excellent. 

We visited the jewelry-store of Col. An- 
drews, where the '' last spike " for the Union and 
Central Railroads was made. This well-known 
repository of diamonds, gold, and silver, the 
Tiffany of the West, is situated in Montgomery 
Street, and bears the enticing name of the 
'' Diamond Palace." They showed us the mini- 
ature Imitation of the Parthenon in Paris, com- 
posed of some twenty native quartz specimens 
containing gold in its natural state ; the model 
standing some two feet in height, exquisite in 
point of workmanship, and valued at twenty 
thousand dollars. Two men were employed for 
a couple of years in the mines, gathering per- 
fect specimens of gold-quartz for its manufac- 
ture. Gen. and Mrs. Grant, among the many 
courtesies tendered them, had the honor of 
walking over solid bricks of gold, so that Dick 
Whittington's London dream was realized in 
San Francisco. 

Our first impression of San Francisco was 
that of a mushroom city ; since every house^ 



SAA^ FRANCISCO. 45 

which at a distance appeared like white marble, 
granite, or sandstone, turned out, on closer in- 
spection, to be painted wood. This in a city 
noted for its wealth was surprising ; but we 
soon ascertained that it arose, not from lack of 
means, but from caution against dangers from 
earthquakes. The foundations, nevertheless, are 
in many cases of granite. 

We heard Charles Wyndham in the evening. 
Curious how tastes differ ! for in New York he 
and his company played their famous great 
" Divorce Case," to crowded houses ; but here 
their acting was poorly appreciated. 

The agent of the Central Pacific Railroad 
had volunteered to initiate me into the mys- 
teries of the " Chinese Quarter," where vice, 
opium, religion, thrift, laziness, gambling, and 
penury may be heard, smelt, seen, in all the 
realism of China itself. There are about 
twenty thousand Chinese living like sardines 
inside of their sandwiched houses. Here, to 
live in this little space of a few acres. China- 
men cross the Pacific to wash clothes, smoke in 
their "joints," and utterly eradicate every whole- 
some aspect of the place. 

We rapidly walked up Sacramento Street ; 
and, as if by magic, modern civilization van- 
ished, and we stood transported, as if by Alad- 
din's lamp, to a new world of Chinese lanterns. 



46 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

colors, pigtails, and strange odors. Little stalls 
with their neatly arranged wares were displayed, 
and Chinese flags and flaring announcements 
glared at us on all sides. My guide was inde- 
fatigable : the doors of gambling-hells, "opium 
joints," and lower resorts, all seemed familiar 
to my cicerone. 

Detectives and some other personages are 
said to be indispensable for this visit ; and, be- 
lieving these tales, I had taken my '' British 
bulldog" before starting. It was totally un- 
necessary; for nothing interfered with us, so 
that I unfortunately cannot thrill my readers 
with any startling details. 

We strolled into the theatre, and took our 
stand behind the eager crowd, who, mute and 
motionless, watched the antics, and closely lis- 
tened to the nasal twang, of the actors. The 
play was "An Abduction," the chief Chinese 
occupying boxes. We did not wait to see who 
was abducted ; for, even in San Francisco, the 
play lasts eight hours, while in China it extends 
over some six or eight weeks. 

Next we sauntered into the famous Bun Sun 
Low restaurant, in Jackson Street, where Gen. 
Grant was entertained. As Chinese women do 
not act, here my first opportunity occurred for 
seeing their fair sex ; small, all alike, blank 
faces and dirty nails. Every one as we entered 



SAN FRANCISCO. 47 

was absorbed In using their chopsticks; and I 
watched them for some seconds, amused at 
their dexterity. On the top floor, with its seats 
made of walnut and cherry, walls filagreed with 
gold, together with numerous ebony ornaments, 
several opium ''lay-outs** looked conveniently 
inviting. We sat on the veranda, gazing down 
upon this vision of a strange uncivilization. 
Now and again, along the sidewalk lighted sticks 
were burning in a row, with a Chinaman salaam- 
ing to them ; this being their strange way to ap- 
pease the spirits. Our waiter comes in ; and tea 
is ready in the cups, with covers of the same 
material as the saucers, for every cup is the 
Chinaman's teapot. Up rolled our Celestial ; 
each little cup is full of boiling water, the cov- 
ers being replaced, leaving a slight aperture for 
the steam. Ginger delicious in its flavor, curi- 
ous aromatic Chinese licki-nuts^ and delightful 
cakes, regale us until the tea is made. Up 
rushes Wing Wang, and with a dexterous turn 
of his wrist without upsetting the lid, pours 
each respectively his portion into a still smaller 
cup. The aroma and richness of the oolong is 
retained by this process. 

We then entered the Chinese joss-house, or 
temple, and unguents at once gave us warning 
of what we might expect. We continued on ; 
dark ebony idols grinning at us from even more 



48 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

sombre corners, while dimly lighted tapers 
brought out the strange, weird, and startling 
hangings of these places of worship. Finally 
a sleepy Chinese pointed out the idols, one 
grinning fellow with red glass eyes and sharp 
teeth being shown us as the bad devil who had 
killed his mother ; next, one strong man who 
had killed a lion, beside him lying a yellow 
stuffed dog, the result of his prowess. None 
of my friends had ever seen the Chinese at their 
devotions, so that I was anxious to witness this 
ceremony. The pig-eyed Celestial laid some 
leaves containing prayers in a species of oven 
with a flue, lit them, and then made a terrific 
row on a kind of tom-tom, professing that the 
gods hearing them take the prayers heaven- 
ward : as a matter of fact, they naturally grow 
lighter until the draught takes them up through 
the flue. 

We then strolled through the crooked alleys, 
and rambled in and out the narrow lanes, re- 
minding one of some little byways in Oxford 
or Naples, Baveno and Belaggio, along Lago 
Maggiore and Como, and other little Italian 
towns which now occur to my mind. Through 
many of the tortuous ways, debauch and ca- 
rouse were rampant, and the ruffling sound and 
brouhaha of the Chinese gaming-counters came 
to our ears. Many of the labyrinths that we 



SAAT FRAXCISCO. 49 

passed through were composed entirely of Httle 
Chinese stalls, a female face at each little win- 
dow inviting in twangy broken English the 
passer-by. Home we sauntered, more and more 
assured, that, if the Eastern people could only 
pay one half-hour's visit to China-town, their 
cries in favor of future immigration from China 
would soon cease. 

June 12 my friends, Sir John Lister Kaye 
and his plucky American wife, — whom I had 
not seen since we crossed from England last 
November in the ''Germanic," — happening to 
be at the " Palace," we all dined together, and 
afterward went to hear " Fatinitza." Like many 
Englishmen of title who desire to raise a golden 
crop and enjoy a healthy outdoor life, he bought 
some five thousand acres ninety-two miles north 
of San Francisco, planted it with wheat, and 
thus far has been very successful. Lady Kaye 
spends much time in the saddle, riding over the 
fields with her husband. Chinamen do their 
cooking ; and though their luxuries are primi- 
tive, the evident good health and spirits which 
they both enjoy speak well for the life they lead. 

We rode about the city in the cable-cars, a 
valuable invention, especially for a place like 
San Francisco, where the streets run over hills 
Immensely steep and high, where It would seem 
impossible for horses to drag a carriage up, or 



{ 



50 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

to come down without destruction. Wire ca- 
bles, running in a grooved iron tube below the 
surface of the street, are moved by stationary 
engines. The rail-track is on either side of the 
cable, and a clamp in the middle of the front 
car seizes the moving rope of iron, and thus 
the car moves on. The clamp is opened, the 
brake put down, when necessary to stop, and 
this is done much quicker than a horse-car can 
be stopped : to start again, a wheel is turned, 
which by a screw clamps the rope, and the car 
goes on again. Without this machinery, it is 
difficult to see how the splendid mansions of 
Crocker, Hopkins, Colton, and Gov. Stanford 
could ever be reached on their steep, high hill. 

On the 13th of June we went through all the 
markets. We saw oysters large and small, 
their flavor execrable, like the waters of Salt 
Lake, — acrid and unpalatable, — saw clams, 
soft and hard, large and small, smooth and 
hairy, black muscles also (the taste was not 
agreeable) ; the crabs were immense in size, 
tender, and of excellent flavor ; squirrels abun- 
dant on the stalls. The meats generally were 
not very good. Strawberries and raspberries 
were there, dry and acid ; cherries and potatoes 
superb ; artichokes large, but destitute of flavor. 
I purchased two purple figs for half a dollar, 
but could not eat them ; they were evidently 



SAJV FRANCISCO. 51 

• 

plucked before the time. Most things we pur- 
chased for testing them cost a '' bit." I had 
never heard of that coin before, but found that 
a " bit," when you paid it, was fifteen cents, 
and, when you received it, was ten cents. 

On our return from the Yosemite Valley, I 
shall have much more to say about this won- 
derful city. 



52 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 



CHAPTER VII. 

TO THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 

At four o'clock p.m. on the 13th of June, 
we left San Francisco for the Yosemite. We 
reached Stockton by rail (a hundred and three 
miles), and the next morning proceeded by 
rail to Milton (thirty miles), then by stage to 
Priest's (thirty-eight miles), where we lodged, 
thence to Crocker's (thirty miles), where we 
remained till the next morning, when we went 
twenty miles more to the Yosemite House in 
the valley : total distance, two hundred and 
twenty-one miles. The valley is nearly due 
east from San Francisco. By daylight, we were 
three days in reaching It. The stage - road 
nearly all the way from Milton was rough and 
dusty, and the sun was intensely hot. 

The round trip from San Francisco to the 
Yosemite, the big trees of the North and South 
Groves, and back, including the stage and horse- 
back rides, is a journey of about five hundred 
miles, and requires twelve days, if you see 
all well. 




i^ -k 



Fold-out 

Placehold( 



This fold-out is being digitized, and will 

future date. 



TO THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 53 

Reaching Milton, all the excursionists took 
x:oaches of some description ; father and I be- 
ing alone in a light, two-horse conveyance, which 
gave us much more room, and less dust. On 
we bowled through an undulating, dry, barren 
country' ; patches of evergreen decking here and 
there the otherwise dusty hillocks, and every 
thing which, before the commencement of the 
Californian rainless season, had been green as 
an English lawn, now parched and shrivelled ; 
the little residue of nourishment being quickly 
nibbled by the bands of sheep, which, in an in- 
credibly short time, give to the greensward the 
appearance which follows the departure of a 
locust plague. 

We noticed, as the country began to assume 
a more mountainous aspect, that large numbers 
of pines were indented with immense numbers 
of round, dark-looking holes, about the size of 
a .44 or .50 calibre ball. A couple of English- 
men on a previous trip, having asked our driver 
what they were, received the startling informa- 
tion, " Wal, this air the identical correct spot 
war Sittin' Bull, Spotted Tail, and Shootin' Star 
tackled Gen. Custer ; and them air things is 
bullet - holes." At first glance we imagined 
them to be the excavations which woodpeckers 
had made in quest of the bark-maggots, or little 
tree-worms ; but we learned, that, fearing the 



54 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA, 

approach of snow, the woodpecker bores the 
holes, and inserts with his strong bill myriads of 
acorns, each receptacle forming a little store- 
house for a nut, a safeguard against the winter. 

Chaparrals dotted the surface on all sides ; 
and, for the first time, we encountered the 
noted poisonous oak, a three-leaf tree, growing 
some ten or fifteen feet high, a little in appear- 
ance like our three-leaf poisonous ivy, although 
somewhat less shiny. Starch and water is said 
to be a good antidote, the shrub producing a 
swelling intensely painful ; a lady travelling 
with us showed us her arm, where its effects 
were plainly manifest in red blotches and dis- 
figurements. 

The horses of California, and throughout the 
West generally, can endure more work, and 
last much longer, than our Eastern horses : 
they also possess the wonderful power of trot- 
ting fast down steep hills without a stumble, or 
strain to their shoulders. The brake has much 
to do with this apparent reckless driving, and 
the skill of its management is of immense help^ 

A coach - and - four started from "Priest's,"" 
where we halted for the night, and found the 
best-cooked meals and neatest hotel on this 
Yosemite trip. All the seats were occupied. 
The brake was known to have been broken, and 
was merely bound together with a cord, but 



TO THE YO SEMITE VALLEY. 55 

was considered quite safe. All went well until, 
going down an unusually steep hill, the brake 
gave w^ay, the momentum was greatly increased, 
the stage turned on a stump, toppled over, and 
all were hurled to the ground, but — mirabiie 
dictu — not a single individual was injured 
save one, a Catholic priest, who having fool- 
ishly kept his foot out of the carriage, his foot 
and ankle were completely severed : it festered, 
and the limb had to be amputated above the 
knee ; the poor fellow died. 

All along our way, large numbers of moan- 
ing-doves and quails, tw^o and tw^o, were cross- 
ing our road very frequently. The quails struck 
me as especially beautiful, with their chocolate, 
white, and mauve-colored markings. These 
valley quail are much larger and more beautiful 
than our Eastern birds ; and the cock, with his 
black and brown crest curling over his beak, is 
especially gaudy when near at hand, somewhat 
resembling the French partridge. The Califor- 
nia mountain birds differ from their cousins in 
the valley, both with respect to size, being 
much larger, and also in that the cock has a 
crest which rises straight up instead of inclining 
bow-shaped over the bill. Indians net them 
very cleverly by means of low brush hedges, 
containing apertures through which the birds 
thrust their heads when endeavoring to escape, 



56 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

thus getting caught in the Httle horsehair slip- 
noose already set round these openings. 

Multitudes of gray and red squirrels, with 
occasionally a black fellow, skipped about, — 
quite a happy hunting-ground for "Alice in 
Wonderland ; " while little chipmunks skimmed 
up bowlders, finding microscopic footholds in a 
manner to have made a chamois or the nimblest 
alpine-club man gnash his teeth with envy. 

June 15. — This morning we started from 
Priest's for another long day's drive. The 
scenery began to change, and grow in breadth 
and altitude. Sugar and yellow pines, with 
other evergreens, slowly became larger and 
more lofty as we advanced up the hillsides. 
Now and again we rushed down some little 
glen, its rippling valley-stream spanned by a 
rude bridge, or toiled up a steep ascent, until 
weary, dusty, and tired, we arrived towards 
night at Crocker's, cool and delicious, — the 
evening's halting - place. Dinner over, we 
turned in, and found that only paper separated 
us from our next-door neighbors. A newly 
married couple on their wedding-tour were next 
to me. One man, next day, tried to shave at 
sunrise ; and even though he was several rooms 
away, the grating of his beard could be distinct- 
ly heard. 

June 16. — Left Crocker's at six a.m., quite 



TO THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 57 

well satisfied with both last night's dinner and 
this morning's breakfast. Now we journeyed 
through a magnificent forest of big pines, and 
finally encountered our first sequoia gigantiay 
over thirty feet in diameter. 

Some forty miles before reaching the valley, 
we passed through miles of pine forest of the 
most magnificent trees. The yellow and the 
sugar pines are vast in size, and measure from 
two hundred and fifty to two hundred and sixty- 
five feet in height, retaining their great diameter 
for more than a hundred feet. The cones of the 
sugar-pines measure from eighteen to twenty 
inches in length. A New-York lady picked up 
one perfect in form and twenty inches long, 
and intended to bring it home. 

As our stagecoach rounds Inspiration Point, 
we come in view of the valley, to reach the 
bottom of which we are obliged to descend a 
fearful road some four thousand feet. That 
danger over, we cross the Merced River, which 
runs through the bottom of the valley ; and, 
driving three miles or more along its banks,, 
we reach the hotel, directly in front of the far- 
famed Yosemite Falls. 



58 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 

The next day (June i"]^, our party starting 
on our six ponies, headed by our guide, we 
finally arrived — by a series of zigzag turns, 
reminding one of the ascent to the Corner 
Crat Hotel at Zermatt, Switzerland — at the 
Vernal Falls (Indian name Pi-us-ack, significa- 
tion " Cataract of Diamonds "), a splendid sheet 
of tumbling waters. We sat on Lady Franklin's 
Rock, and viewed the magnificent scenery, the 
foaming tide struggling with the colossal bowl- 
ders. Remounting, after another hour's climb, 
we reached the Nevada Falls : these, too, are 
superb. 

After a good lunch of trout at the little hotel, 
we began our return. The proprietor of this 
small inn has a pool containing some two thou- 
sand or so of trout, all over half a pound, which 
he is keeping till the spawning is over, and 
then, as an amusement to his guests, intends to 
allow fishing in July and August. 

Returning to the Vernal Falls, several of our 



THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 



59 



party, including one lady, stood on a little 
narrow edge of rock, supported by the guide, 
and looked down some three hundred and 
eighty feet of frothy foam. A member of the 
English Alpine Club and myself went down a 
small hole in the rocks, and stood on a ledge 
below in order to see the rainbow. These 
winding trails, tracing their circuitous courses 
up among the mountains, are daily traversed 
by these sure-footed Indian ponies ; and the 
astonishing manner in which they pick their 
way over logs and slippery rocks is wonderful. 
I have hardly ever known them to stumble, and 
should feel as secure as on the Swiss mules, 
proverbially famous for their safety. 

Racing our mustangs back, we reached the 
hotel quite hungry and ready for dinner. We 
visited a curious old bar-room hung around with 
antlers, guns, swords, duelling-pistols with their 
bloody history attached, and old racing cartoons; 
in fact, a large edition of '' Uncle Tom's " chop- 
house in New York. One curiosity is well 
worth mentioning, — that of a huge autograph 
volume, the repository of the names of visitors 
who have visited the valley during the last ten 
years. This book weighs some hundred and 
fifteen pounds, and contains fifteen thousand 
names. Among many well-known signatures, 
my attention was drawn to this : — 



60 FROM FIFTH A VENUE TO ALASKA. 

"J. A. Garfield, Hiram, Ohio. 
" No one can thoroughly study this valley and its sur- 
roundings without being broader-minded thereafter. 
"May 15, 1875." 

What marred the poetry of this fine senti- 
ment was the fact, that several people told me 
that they had never met such narrow-minded 
people as these grand cliffs enclosed. Perhaps, 
if true, this comes from a feeling of imprison- 
ment which even a casual visitor cannot help 
remarking ; for, although the valley is some six 
miles long, its breadth is but a quarter of a 
mile, and considering the vast precipitous 
height of these cliffs, — some four thousand 
feet, — the sensation can be realized. 

Our antiquated guide '' Pike," the oldest 
hunter in the valley, catching a severe cold one 
morning while hunting deer on the mountain, 
almost completely lost his voice ; and a very 
inquisitive, lean, gaunt, cadaverous-looking 
Eastern man kept worrying him with questions. 
Finally the visitor said, '' How comes it that you 
appear to be deficient in your bronchial tubes ? " 
— *' Answering the questions of damn fools 
sich as you," was the quick rejoinder. 

185 1 was the date of the first white man's 
entrance into the valley, which arose from pur- 
suing hostile Yosemite Indians. 

About nine o'clock p.m., while seated on the 



THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 6 1 

veranda, we viewed one of the most romantic 
scenes that can be imagined. The moon, 
facing the falls, rose behind the craggy peaks, 
and in all the majesty of her silvery sheen lit up 
the falling waters. The pure, clear air brought 
out every shadow of the sombre pines ; and, 
chiselled upon the view, the cathedral spires 
stood out like guardians of the valley, sentinels 
at their watch. So grand, so awe-inspiring, 
was the sight, that each was silent, and some 

recalled, — 

" Upon such a night 
I stood within the Cohseum's wall, 
Midst the chief relics of almighty Rome." 

I can remember but three instances during 
my travels that compare with this, — one, a 
sunrise on top of Mount Washington ; another, 
my first glimpse of the Matterhorn with the 
moon rising from behind it ; and lastly, as I 
now recall it, a summer's night on Lago del 
Como. It was near Bellagio. The old ballroom 
of the chateau fronting the lake, which a mo- 
ment previous had resounded with gayety, now 
lost even the echo of the whirling dancers ; the 
lights burned low ; musicians all departed ; and 
only an occasional morsel of torn tulle, or faded 
flower ground under foot, bore witness of the 
gay throng which but a moment previous 
crowded every niche of the old baronial halL 



62 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

As three of us, quietly conversing in the dark 
night, sat muffled on the veranda but a few- 
feet from the gHding waters, the deep- toned 
bell hanging in the belfry hard by began to 
strike the midnight hour ; and, as the last vibra- 
tion was trembling away on the breeze, the 
clouds broke, and the moon shone out in her 
cold brilliancy, bringing out every object on the 
deep waters. At that instant, upon the wind 
rose the sway and measure of a dreamy waltz, 
nearer and still nearer, until, within a stone's 
throw, a gondola floated by, an Italian girl in 
the stern playing the zithern, cheering on her 
lover as he swept his bark along. 

The Yosemite Valley is one of the few things 
which will not disappoint you, however large 
your expectations. 

For an accurate description I cite from the 
work of Professor J. D. Whitney, State geologist 
of California, which was published by the Legis- 
lature. 

To justly estimate the description, it should 
be kept in mind that the bottom of the valley 
is about a mile below the surrounding country, 
and 3,950 feet above the sea. We will enter 
by the Coulterville trail, on the north side of the 
Merced River, which runs through the valley. 
(See map facing p. 69.) 



THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 63 

" The valley is a nearly level area, about six miles 
in length and about half a mile to a mile in width, 
sunk almost a mile in perpendicular depth below the 
general level of the adjacent region. 

" Either the domes or the waterfalls of the Yosem- 
ite, or any single one of them even, would be suffi- 
cient in any European country to attract travellers 
from far and wide in all directions. Waterfalls in the 
vicinity of the Yosemite, surpassing in beauty many 
of those best known and most visited in Europe, are 
actually left entirely unnoticed by travellers, because 
there are so many other objects of interest to be 
visited that it is impossible to find time for them 
all. 



" Of the cliffs around the valley, El Capitan and 
the Half Dome are the most striking : the latter is 
the higher, but it would be difficult to say which 
conveys to the mind the most decided impression of 
grandeur and massiveness. El Capitan is an immense 
block of granite, projecting squarely out into the 
valley, and presenting an almost vertical sharp edge, 
3,300 feet in elevation. The sides or walls of the 
mass are bare, smooth, and entirely destitute of 
vegetation. It is almost impossible for the observer 
to comprehend the enormous dimensions of this 
rock, which in clear weather can be distinctly seen 
from the San Joaquin plains, at a distance of fifty 
or sixty miles. 

** On the other side of the valley we have the 



64 FROM FIFTH A VENUF TO ALASKA. 

Bridal Veil Fall, unquestionably one of the most 
beautiful objects in the Yosemite. It is formed by 
the creek of the same name, which rises a few miles 
east of Empire Camp, runs through the meadows at 
Westfalls, and is finally precipitated over the cliffs on 
the west side of Cathedral Rock, into the Yosemite, 
in one leap of six hundred and thirty feet perpendic- 
ular. The water strikes here on a sloping pile of 
debris, down which it rushes in a series of cascades 
for a perpendicular distance of nearly three hundred 
feet more, the total height of the edge of the fall 
above the meadow at its base being nine hundred 
feet. The effect of the fall as everywhere seen from 
the valley is as if it were nine hundred feet in ver- 
tical height ; its base being concealed by the trees 
which surround it. 

"The Virgin's Tears Creek, on the other side of 
the valley, and directly opposite the Bridal Veil, 
makes also a fine fall, over a thousand feet high, in- 
cluded in a deep recess of the rocks near the lower 
corner of El Capitan. 

''From near the foot of Sentinel Rock, looking 
directly across the valley, we have before us what 
most persons will admit to be, if not the most stu- 
pendous, at least the most attractive, feature of the 
Yosemite ; namely, the Yosemite Fall par excellence, 
that one of all the falls about the valley which is 
best entitled to bear that name. The finest view of 
this fall is in a group of oaks near the lower hotel, 
from which point the various parts seem most thor- 



THE YOSEMITE VALLEY, 65 

oughly to be blended into one whole of surprising 
attractiveness. Even the finest photograph is, how- 
ever, utterly inadequate to convey to the mind any 
satisfactory impression or realization of how many of 
the elements of grandeur and beauty are combined 
in this waterfall, and its surroundings and accesso- 
ries. The first and most impressive of these ele- 
ments is, as in all other objects about the Yosemite, 
vertical height. In this it surpasses, it is believed, 
any waterfall in the world with any thing like an 
equal body of water. . . . The vertical height of the 
lip of the fall above the valley is, in round numbers, 
2,600 feet. ' 

** The fall is not in one perpendicular sheet. There 
is first a vertical descent of fifteen hundred feet, when 
the water strikes on what seems to be a projecting 
ledge, but which in reality is a shelf or recess, almost 
a third of a mile back from the front of the lower por- 
tion of the cliff. From here the water finds its way, 
in a series of cascades, down a descent equal to six 
hundred and twenty-six feet perpendicular, and then 
gives one final plunge of about four hundred feet on 
to a low tahis of rocks at the base of the precipice. 

" One of the most striking features of the Yo- 
semite Fall is the vibration of the upper portion from 
one side to the other, under the varying pressure of 
the wind, which acts with immense force on so long 
a column. The descending mass of water is too great 

^ The great Horseshoe Fall at Niagara is but 154 feet high The 
fall on the American side is nine feet higher. 



66 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

to allow of its being entirely broken up into spray ; 
but it widens out very much to the bottom, — prob- 
ably to as much as three hundred feet at high water, 
the space through which it moves being fully three 
times as wide. This vibratory motion of the Yose- 
mite and Bridal Veil Falls is something peculiar, and 
not observed in any others, so far as we know ; the 
effect of it is indescribably grand, especially under 
the magical illumination of the full moon. 

*'At the angle where the Yosemite branches, we 
have, on the north side, the rounded columnar mass 
of rocks called the Washington Column ; and, imme- 
diately to the left of it, the immense arched cavity 
called the ' Royal Arches.' Over these is seen the 
dome-shaped mass called the North Dome. 

"The Half Dome, on the opposite side of the 
Tenaya Canon, is the loftiest and most imposing 
mass of those considered as part of the Yosemite. 
It is not so high as Cloud's Rest, but the latter seems 
rather to belong to the Sierra than to the Yosemite. 
The Half Dome is in sight in the distance as we 
descend the Mariposa trail, but it is not visible in 
the lower part of the valley itself : it is seen first 
when we come to the meadow opposite Hutchings's. 
It is a crest of granite rising to the height of 4,737 
feet above the valley, seeming perfectly inaccessible, 
and being the only one of all the prominent points 
about the Yosemite which has never been, and per- 
haps never will be, trodden by human foot. It has 
not the massiveness of El Capitan, but is more aston- 



THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 6/ 

ishing, and probably there are few visitors to the 
valley who would not concede to it the first place of 
all the wonders of the region. Even the most casual 
.observer must recognize in it a new revelation of 
mountain o-randeur : those who have not seen it could 
never comprehend its extraordinary form and propor- 
tions, not even with the aid of photographs. 

"The first fall reached in ascending the canon is 
the Vernal, a perpendicular sheet of water with a 
descent varying greatly with the season. 

"From the Vernal Fall, up stream, for the dis- 
tance of about a mile, the river may be followed ; and 
it presents a succession of cascades and rapids of 
great beauty. As we approach the Nevada Fall, the 
last great one of the Merced, we have at every step 
something new and impressive. 

"The Nevada Fall is, in every respect, one of the 
grandest waterfalls m the world, whether we con- 
sider its vertical height, the purity and volume of the 
river which forms it, or the stupendous scenery by 
which it is environed. . . . To call the Vernal four 
hundred and the Nevada six hundred feet, in round 
numbers, will be near enough to the truth. The 
descent of the river in rapids between the two falls 
is nearly three hundred feet. 

" The elevation of the bottom of the valley above 
the sea-level is, from a combination of several series 
of observations, 3,950 feet. Through the valley flows 
the Merced River, about seventy feet in width, mak- 
ing many sharp and curiously angular bends, touch- 
inc: the talus first on one side and then on the other." 



'68 FROM FIFTH AVENUF TO ALASKA. 

This valley was a secret fastness of the Yo- 
semite tribe until March, 1851, when it was dis- 
covered by Major Savage, Dr. Bunnell, and 
their party, while in pursuit of hostile Indians. 
It was once a favorite resort of the grizzly bear, 
from whence its name. The Major had five 
Indian wives at one time. 

There are two ways of entering the valley, — 
one, by rail to Milton, and thence by stage via 
Priest's and Crocker's, in which case you enter 
by the Coulterville trail on the north side of the 
Merced River : the other is by rail to Madera, 
thence by stage via Clark's ; in this case you 
enter by the Mariposa trail on the south side 
of the Merced. The Mariposa way is much the 
longer, but I hear that the stage part is easier. 

After visiting the Yosemite, we saw the high 
mountains of Alaska, capped with eternal snows 
and mirrored in the still deep waters at their 
base ; the lofty castellated cliffs along the banks 
of the Columbia River; the vast Hoodoo ranges; 
the boiling caldrons, the geysers, the falls and 
canons, in the Yellowstone Park. But no 
scenery comes back to the memory with such 
amazement as that of the Yosemite Valley, and 
nothing in the valley seems so awfully grand as 
the granite walls of El Capitan. 

The air of the valley is heavy and close ; it 
seems never to have been ventilated : and the 
mosquitoes are of the most vicious kind. 



THE CALAVERAS GROVES. 69 



CHAPTER IX. 

FROM THE YOSEMITE TO THE CALAVERAS GROVES. 

— THE BIG TREES. — NORTH AND SOUTH GROVES. 

— FISHING, BEAR-HUNTING, ETC. 

From the Yosemite we go to the '' Big Trees" 
of Calaveras County, far the largest of all. 
They are north-west from the valley, and 
reached by Sonora and Murphy's, as seen on 
the map. The distance is many miles, and 
much of the road is rough. It is partly over 
the same road by whch we came out, and takes 
two days. 

At Sonora, Mr. and Mrs. Ruthven, who had 
been delightful travelling companions, concluded 
to abandon a journey to the Trees, and return 
to San Francisco. My father and I went on 
alone. 

On all sides we encountered signs of the 
gold-fever of 1849, — soil torn up, rocks blast- 
ed, trees uprooted, green pastures devastated, 
streams turned from their course, rich land 
given to aridness ; pastures, wheat-crops, fruit, 
vineyards, all set aside by the golden dreams 



-JO FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

of sudden wealth. As we sped along, glancing 
at the mining operations either in full sway, or 
at the machinery left deserted for lack of 
means, — here and there were Chinamen slui- 
cing, or the lonely " prospector," with his rifle 
and solitary dog, seeking his rich " pocket," or 
sounding for a vein ; now and then coming 
upon an hydraulic company tearing down the 
hills with their powerful stream ; and not far off 
the poorer '' place7^ miner," — we thought of the 
remark of Senator Jones of Nevada, who said 
to father one day, " Every dollar of gold which 
California has produced, in general average, 
cost three to get it." The truth of this estimate 
can be realized when we consider the useless 
shafts which have been sunk, the vast amount 
of machinery which proved of no value, the 
millions of days' labor which were fruitless, and 
the millions of dollars which were spent in 
mining explorations which yielded no return. 
But several miners who had been prospecting 
and digging for thirty years, and were still poor, 
told us, that, with all the hard labor and priva- 
tion, there was a pleasure in the hope of great 
luck that never ceased to lure them on, in spite 
of so many years of disappointment. Gold- 
mining and gambling are not unlike. 

The Chinamen, accustomed to their irrigated 
rice-fields, and being already inured to the ex- 



THE CALAVERAS GROVES. /I 

posure of wading, rank among the best miners 
on the coast, their endurance being remarkable ; 
and as one watches them cHmbing the hills 
with their long, swinging walk, you can easily 
appreciate their usefulness as soldiers, capable 
of undergoing forced marches under a burning 
sun. The placer Chinaman derives from his 
washing, under the best circumstances, some 
two dollars a day, out of which their largest ex- 
penditure is for opium, the Chinaman's scourge. 
This deadly narcotic they sometimes chew in 
the mines, claiming that its use exhilarates, 
and enables them to undergo the unceasing 
toil of their vocation. The washing for dust is 
nearly all done by this race ; Americans actually 
being expelled from their original occupation 
by this strange people, whose chief food, rice, 
they buy at a low price from their own mer- 
chants, and, their systems being habituated to 
living without meat, their visits to a " Bignon," 
Delmonico's, or '' Lion d'Or," are naturally 
very rare. Ordinary linen-washing they have 
also brought to such a low rate, through their 
economical way of living, that none others can 
compete ; and thus, as is generally known, they 
have almost a complete monopoly of this 
business. 

Our driver informed us concerning the wages 
which experienced '' whips" get on the road. 



72 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

Their salaries average from sixty dollars to 
eighty dollars a month for four and six horse 
stages, drivers of ordinary vehicles receiving 
some thirty dollars to forty dollars. These fel- 
lows are old veterans, knowing every turn on 
the road ; and the two or three hundred rniles 
which their duty sends them over is what the 
''Mississippi panorama" was aforetime to the 
old pilots, in which every snag and shoal was as 
clearly placed and marked, in their minds, as 
the signals are now to an engineer on the rail- 
road. Occasionally we noticed that five horses 
were used before a stage, three of them lead- 
ers, and two wheelers. We found, that, on 
crooked roads, five pulled fully as much as six, 
the two leaders of the latter number being 
hardly serviceable for abrupt turns ; but, in a 
straight course, six were capable of dragging 
more than five. 

We met numerous wagons heaped up with 
dirt going to be ''washed out;" and ascertained 
that four bits (fifty cents) was calculated as the 
profit upon each load. Companies or private 
individuals frequently start water-works for 
washing, and mills for quartz-crushing, at fixed 
rates ; and thus even here chances for studying 
political economy are afforded. 

We passed several nests of the poisonous 
tarantula, with their neatly constructed houses. 



THE CALAVERAS GROVES. 'J'^ 

Crossing In the chain-ferry propelled by the 
current, we met on the other side a madwoman, 
who greatly amused us by her fire of invectives, 
hurling anathemas at all the world, decrying 
the general belief in a future life, and pointing 
out with immense cunning the weakness of our 
public men. 

On the 20th of June we reached the ''Trees," 
and found an excellent hotel in the very grove. 
It is kept by Mr. J. L. Sperry, a man of excel- 
lent good sense, who understands his business. 
He owns the grove, and the South Grove also. 
The climate here is charming ; the air delight- 
fully cool, clear, and elastic. This grove con- 
tains ninety-three large trees, and many small 
ones. You cannot conceive the impression 
which these will make until you have seen 
them, and, climbing the ladders which rest upon 
several of the fallen trunks, you walk over their 
vast bulk, and look down to the ground some 
thirty feet below you. 

There is great diversity of statement as to 
their size. The account published by Mr. 
Whitney, ten years ago, makes the tallest 
standing tree three hundred and twenty-five 
feet high and forty-five feet in circumference ; 
he calls this the '' Keystone State." One, called 
" Starr King," he reports as fifty- two feet in cir- 
cumference and two hundred and eighty-three 



74 FROM FIFTH AVENUE 7V ALASKA. 

feet high. Surely there is some mistake in the 
print, or error in the measurements, or else 
a confusion of names. Later, Professor C. T. 
Jackson in 1857 measured the "Starr King," 
and found it three hundred and sixty-six feet 
high. The Mother of the Forest has its bark 
off up to the height of a hundred and sixteen 
feet. The bark thus removed was set up at 
Sydenham Palace, where it was burned many 
years ago. This tree is reported in Mr. Whit- 
ney's book to be three hundred and fifteen feet 
high and sixty-one feet in circumference. The 
Whitney measurement was made six feet above 
the ground, and where the bark had been re- 
moved. It should be noted that these trees 
have no tap-root : they are considerably fluted, 
like the cedar ; they flare a good deal at the 
base, and the bark near the bottom is from 
nineteen to twenty-three inches thick ; it is 
of a reddish-brown color, soft and fibrous, like 
the outer shuck of a cocoanut. Professor Jack- 
son makes this tree three hundred and twenty- 
seven feet high. One of its roots, ^y^ feet 
from the tree, measures nearly nine feet in cir- 
cumference. There is much room for honest 
difference regarding the height of the standing 
trees ; but none where the trees have lately 
fallen, and none as to the circumference of any 
one. On the 24th of June we measured the 



THE CALAVERAS GROVES. 75 

** Old Dominion," which fell in April, 1882, and 
it is three hundred and fifty feet long. Another 
fallen tree is '' Hercules," which fell in 1862. 
It measured three hundred and twenty-five feet 
long, and ninety-seven around the base. 

In 1853, ^^ "Ci^yX year after the grove was 
discovered, some vandals, with the mistaken 
idea that they could make money by exhibiting 
sections of it, cut down one of the largest trees. 
Neither saws nor axes could effect their object, 
but the tree was felled by boring it through 
and through with pump-augers and driving- 
wedges on one side. It took five men twenty- 
five days to accomplish this unpardonable de- 
vastation. This tree at the base measures 
ninety- two feet in circumference. Its rings 
proved that it had been growing at least thir- 
teen hundred years. Some of the " Big Trees" 
are believed to be over two thousand years old ; 
less old, I believe, than some of the old yew- 
trees of England. One of the finest trees is 
the '' Empire State," ninety-four feet in circum- 
ference. The '' Father of the Forest," having 
fallen long before the forest was discovered, 
has given rise to much controversy. Hittell, 
in his " Resources of California," says that it 
must have been four hundred and fifty feet 
high, and forty feet in diameter ; but Professor 
Whitney discredits this estimate. A hollow 



^6 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

burnt - out cavity extends through the trunk 
about two hundred feet, large enough for a 
man to ride through on horseback. The '' Fallen 
Monarch " is believed to show proof, from the 
surrounding trees, that he fell much more than a 
hundred years ago ; and is chiefly interesting as 
proof of the lasting qualities of the wood, much 
of it being perfectly sound. 

The morning after arrival at Sperry's hotel, 
I went trout - fishing, with Andrew Jackson 
Smith as my guide. This man became my es- 
pecial admiration, — a brave and honest man : 
his like I have never seen. I will try to present 
him. Conceive a man six foot two, with broad 
shoulders, but gaunt, lean, long-armed, narrow 
head, and Roman nose, mouth and teeth like a 
gray squirrel as he gnaws a nut ; hair and beard 
long, yellow, and untrimmed, an immense strag- 
gling imperial, which he occasionally twisted in 
his hand ; eyes of a yellowish-gray, small and 
calm, honest, and near together ; fingers very 
long and bony ; hands and face tanned the 
brown color of his overall clothes ; his legs very 
long and sinewy, ending in coarse heavy boots ; 
and on the back of his narrow head a battered 
old drab sombrero hat : add to this a fearless 
mien and a kindly voice, and you have before 
you the old trapper, whom I heartily commend 
to any one who needs the services of a skilled 
fisherman and a trustworthy guide. 



THE CALAVERAS GROVES. // 

In the early morning, June 20, Smith and 
I started alone, on our horses, for the trout- 
streams. He cocked his smashed hat on one 
side, and mounted, taking the fish-basket con- 
taining our lunch, and each of us had our rods. 
Over hill and mountain, across the Stanislaus 
River, — which, although containing the largest 
trout, was still too high, — " loping" down the 
hills, passing at intervals the beautiful fresh ice- 
plant, which springs up as the snow disappears, 
and then as soon fades away at the approach 
of hot weather. I rode a Mexican broncho ; 
that is, a pony trained for the lariat and lasso- 
ing steers. Smith gave me a lesson in picking 
up a handkerchief when at full gallop, and in 
picking up coin from the ground, — which feat, 
owing to the Spanish way of securely cinching 
a horse, may be accomplished : the English way 
of fastening the girth of the pig-skin saddle 
makes the chances of its turning too great for 
safety, especially as there is no horn to hang to 
while lowering one's self to the ground. The 
Mexicans all over the West have various ways 
of exhibiting their skill ; one favorite amuse- 
ment being " chicken-pulling." A hen or cock 
is firmly embedded in the earth, leaving nothing 
but its head stretching itself in all directions : 
our Mexican competitor rides off a short dis- 
tance, and then dashing forward at full gallop 



y8 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

lowers himself from his seat, and seizes, if he 
be so fortunate, the neck and head, and tears 
it from the body ; though, of course, like " tent- 
pegging" in England and India, there are more 
misses than wins, for its accomplishment needs 
a perfectly trained horse, and steady nerve. 
After some serious up-hill climbing, we reached 
" Grouse Spring," so called by Smith one year 
when out deer - hunting, on seeing twenty-six 
grouse roosting in a big pine which overshad- 
ows the water. 

My companion entertained me with various 
interesting stories, and impressed me, as his 
reputation afterwards confirmed, with a feeling 
that he was not telling the usual hunters' yarns 
with which these old characters like to arouse 
the wonderment of " tender-feet." Having 
killed several ''grizzlies" during his life, he 
considered the following rules the most reliable 
guide for their slaughter. These rules have 
been approved by many camp-fire hunters: I 
here gfive them for the benefit of those desirous 
of some day possessing a necklace of claws : — 

I St, Do not attempt to kill a grizzly by the 
first shot unless he charges you, and the need 
of shooting be inevitable : then aim directly for 
the centre of his breast, sighting a little patch 
of grizzly, wiry hair always visible. 

2d, Wait, if possible, until the bear is going 



THE CALAVERAS GROVES. 79 

away from you, as the chances of your getting 
in a couple of bullets before he sees you are 
much more likely. 

3d, Don't Imagine, that, like other beasts or 
animals, shooting a grizzly through even the 
very core of the heart necessarily prevents him 
from having strength to kill three men before 
death. 

4th, Aim a few Inches above the top of the 
shoulder, just under the spinal column: this will 
shatter and so cripple his fore-legs, and Impede 
his progress, as to enable you to get in with 
safety enough lead to finally stop his career. 

5th, A ball precisely placed in the brain will 
almost always cause instant death ; but as, when 
the bear moves, he continually swings his snout 
from side to side, and is never still. If the man 
be not a quick shot and a dead shot. It w^ere 
better, unless in imminent danger, to leave the 
mark unattempted, especially since the retreat- 
ing formation of the bear's skull, when facing 
him, render the chances great that the bullet 
will glance off. 

Smith agrees with the many other authorities 
consulted, that a grizzly will not attack unless 
you are directly in his trail, or unless it be a 
she-one with cubs. Grizzlies, like other bears, 
prefer flight, and will do their utmost to avoid 
a conflict ; but let them once feel lead, and no 



8o FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

animal on earth can equal them in point of 
ferocity, or tenacity of life. 

The Indian tiger is generally pursued on a 
houdah, or "• pad elephant ; " and the African 
lion, when shot through the heart, is much 
inferior in power to the dreaded *' grizzly." 
Livingstone, in his book on Africa, corrobo- 
rates the many authorities with respect to the 
folly of making the lion the king of beasts, if 
regard be paid to courage ; and goes on to say 
that his roar, when heard at a distance from a 
camp-fire, can hardly be distinguished from an 
ostrich's '' trumpeting." Jules Gerard, the lion- 
hunter, in his interesting work, plainly shows 
how a well-directed ball through the heart, given 
behind the fore-shoulder, will generally produce 
instant death, or, at all events, lay low this 
so-called " king of animals." His title is de- 
rived more from his massive head, with its mag- 
nificent wealth of mane, than from intense 
courage. As regards the '' cinnamon," au- 
thors, and those old hunters whom I have con- 
sulted, seem, to concur, that, although equal in 
ferocity, it lacks the *' grizzly's" power of sur- 
viving wounds, and dealing death in his last 
embrace. 

One method of escape has been adopted by 
old hunters occasionally with success ; namely, 
by running straight along a steep hillside. The 



THE CALAVERAS GROVES. 8 1 

bear rarely runs in a straight line ; and this 
peculiarity, combined with his great weight, pre- 
vents his retaining his balance on a slope ; and 
this has occasionally saved a man's life. As 
regards the climbing of trees, although the 
report is circulated that the *' grizzly," from the 
length and form of his immense claws, alone 
of the bear tribe, cannot ascend a tree, this is 
true only of those trees entirely bereft of limbs 
within his reach, or whose branches are so weak 
as to give way beneath his great weight. The 
cubs can run up a smooth trunk as easily as a 
cat, by the aid of their claws. 

Revenons a nos moutons. We dismounted 
on the bank of our little stream, unsaddled, un- 
bridled, and tethered our ponies, jointed the 
poles, rigged the lines, and took our first throw, 
one using a brown hackle, the other a black 
gnat, attached to six-foot leaders. The bottom 
being very clean sand with many bowlders dot- 
ting the bed, we fished down stream, there 
being from these causes not much danger of 
roiling the "riffles" in which the greater 
part of our casting was done. The " white 
miller " is used in this region, especially towards 
nightfall ; but we found, during the day, neutral- 
tinted flies with dark bodies were the most 
catching. Beginning at nine, hour after hour 
we crawled and slipped over huge rocks, or 



82 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

waded up to our waists in the water, over 
ground so rough that visitors had as yet left it 
untouched. The bushes on either side grew 
to the water's edge, and made bank casting 
impossible. We left off at four, with sixty-nine 
slashed red trout somewhat less speckled than 
Eastern spotted fish, but fully as gamey. 

My finest day's lake-trout fishing was on 
Lough Corrib in Ireland, close to Cong, twenty 
miles north of Galway, during 1879. We used 
an otter, whose use is the worst kind of poach- 
ing. Directions : Take a piece of wood, half- 
moon in form ; attach through its centre a 
strong line, some thirty feet in length ; and all 
along, at intervals of four feet, allow six other 
lines with leaders and flies to dribble over the 
surface. After paying out this species of di- 
minutive seine from the boat, keep up a regular 
slow stroke, having due regard to the wind's 
direction ; fasten your end to the boat, and 
await results. With this deadly contrivance, on 
this lonely and wild lake, we captured in two 
hours some twenty large trout, averaging three 
pounds, besides others caught trolling with a 
ten-foot rod and spinning live bait, the small 
chub being cleverly fastened to a "gang" of six 
hooks. 

On the 23d of June, in company with a very 
interesting young lady. Miss H , we rode 



THE CALAVERAS GROVES. 83 

to the South Grove, which Is six or seven miles 
distant. There is only a bridle-path, and that 
is a steep and stony trail. We have to cross 
the Stanislaus River. This grove also belongs 
to Mr. Sperry, who has there more than a thou- 
sand acres. This grove contains 1,380 large 
trees. 

The "Massachusetts" measures at the base 
a hundred feet in circumference, and is said to 
be three hundred and eighty feet high. 

The *'Ohio" has a base circumference of a 
hundred and four feet, and is said to be three 
hundred and twenty-eight feet high. 

The " New York" is a hundred and six feet 
in circumference, and three hundred and forty 
feet high. 

" Cyclops," a live tree, has a burnt cavity at 
its base, in which twenty-four men, each on 
horseback, are said to have been at the same 
time. We cannot say how true this statement 
is, but it did not seem impossible. 

The " Palace Hotel " is a hundred feet in cir- 
cumference, with a burnt-out cavity of fifteen 
feet in diameter and ninety feet high ; and yet 
the tree is alive. 

" Old Goliath" is a fallen tree. It measures 
at the base a hundred and five feet irf circum- 
ference, and measures, as it lies, two hundred 
and eighty-one feet. It is easy to tell the size : 



S4 FROM FIFTH A VENUE TO ALASKA. 

a limb alone measures twelve feet in circum- 
ference. This tree has its bark all perfect. It 
retains its vast size longer than any fallen tree 
we have seen. As you ascend, and walk over 
its huge bulk, you form some conception of 
its size, and you can hardly believe that it is 
indeed a tree. Its magnitude impresses you 
more than that of any standing or fallen of 
these giants of the forest. 

Near by is a living tree called " Smith's 
Cabin," named after the old trapper. He was 
our guide on the visit to these trees, and on 
the ground gave us the particulars of his ad- 
ventures. In reply to the question from what 
State he came, he said: — 

" I came out of a wooden-nutmeg machine 
in Hartford County, Conn. I got the mining- 
fever early ; and I came to California, and went 
to diggin' gold. I rather liked the business, 
though it w^as hard work. I had no luck, didn't 
make much, and lost that ; then went to trap- 
ping, and sold what I could shoot to the miners. 
I lived in that 'ere tree two years ; nobody near. 
It was rather lonesome at nieht. I read some : 
had a horse, my dog and gun ; they all slept 
with me in that 'ere tree. It was rather a hard 
row of stumps. I tried to get this grove by 
pre-emption, squatting, and improving. I had 
an axe, and built a strong shanty here; but 



THE CALAVERAS GROVES. 85 

somehow I didn't enter any claims accordin' to 
law, and was cheated out of it — hard row o* 
stumps out here, without any thing to pay law- 
yers. But I am contented ; have had a fine 
time ; never cheated nobody. At night, when 
the wind blowed, rather lonesome sometimes 
with only dog and horse. One night there was 
a terrible gale ; trees were constantly coming 
down, and I didn't dare go out of my old tree. 
Finally this Old Goliath came down, and shook 
all round like an earthquake. I was a little 
scared ; knew I could not help it, and hoped 
my old tree would weather the storm. It did, 
and stands there now." 

The hollow part of Smith's Tree is sixteen by 
twenty-one feet, plenty large for a man, horse, 
and dog. All these oldest trees have suffered 
from fire, and men of science say that ''Old 
Goliath " is at least two thousand years old. 
Their great age is evinced also by the sugar- 
pines, two hundred and fifty feet high and 
twenty feet in circumference, growing near by, 
and showing no signs of fire. The great trees 
are akin to the redwood, and resemble cedar. 
Being resinous at the heart, they burn long, 
and many of the older ones are hollowed out 
by fire, and yet not dead. 

Smith discoursed quite indignantly upon the 
depredation which the Chinamen were making 



86 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

Upon the white miners, — how one Celestial, 
somewhat better than the majority of his crea- 
tures, would get in his employ six or a dozen, 
and send them over the country prospecting 
for gold : if one happened to strike a rich vein,, 
he immediately collected and centred all upon 
this one spot. Smith, himself an old miner of 
1849, protested, and declared this to be entirely 
against the general tenor of the unwritten min- 
ing law, that man should be in this state of 
serfdom. 

Our guide, so accustomed to wandering in 
the loneliness of unbroken forest, who in this 
very grove had spent two years in the trunk of 
a tree, and whose years rolled by regardless 
of railroads, suspension-bridges, telephones, and 
Panama Canals, spending weeks in the wilder- 
ness with no friend but his mongrel deer-hound, 
and an old muzzle-loading rifle, — the poor old 
fellow, feeling that he had been always honest, 
gave vent to the expression, "Ah, sir! when 
you are unaccustomed to the treachery of the 
world, honest men find life a hard row of 
stumps." Like most of those we met, he was 
vehement in his denouncement of the Indian ; 
and he told us how the very redskins to whom 
he had been so kind, broke into his cabin in 
the tree one day during his absence on a deer- 
hunt, and stole the few possessions which, to 



THE CALAVERAS GROVES. 8/ 

a poor trapper, are his all, — kettle, axe, and 
saucepan. 

The Mariposa Grove, sixteen miles south of 
the Yosemite Valley, contains a large number 
of splendid trees ; none so high by more than 
fifty feet as some of the Calaveras trees, but, 
according, to Professor Whitney, of larger cir- 
cumference. No trees of this kind have been 
found outside of California, or even north of 
the Calaveras Grove. According to Dr. Muller, 
the eminent botanist, the eucalyptus has been 
found in Australia four hundred and eighty feet 
high, but no one so large around as the largest 
of the California trees. These trees are named 
Sequoia gigantea, after a Cherokee Indian chief 
of half blood who invented an alphabet for his 
tribe. These trees were first discovered in the 
Calaveras forest, in the spring of 1852, by Mr. 
A. T. Dowd, a hunter, while in pursuit of a 
wounded bear. His statement no one at first 
believed. In 1853 Dr. Findlay published a de- 
scription of this tree in Gardner's '' Chronicle of 
London," and called it Wellmgtoitia gigaittea. 
In 1854 eminent botanists concluded that the 
Californian redwood was of the same genus as 
the "■ Big Trees," and this species was by them 
named Sequoia gigantea. The redwood, so 
abundant and so valuable for timber, grows 
along the Coast Range from 36° to 42°. Near 



S8 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

Santa Cruz is a growth of great beauty, in 
which is a tree fifty-six feet in circumference 
and two hundred and seventy-five feet high. 
Professor Whitney supposes that there are 
many redwoods from two hundred and fifty-one 
to three hundred feet high. Their wood, hke 
that of the *' Big Trees," is of reddish color, 
hard, stronof, and enduring. 

On the road before reaching the Yosemite 
Valley, we drive through the body of the 
" Dead Giant," a sequoia tree. It is dead, and 
most of the outside has been burned away ; and 
yet of the solid wood there is left a trunk whose 
diameter is about thirty feet. A roadway ten 
feet wide and twelve feet hio^h is cut throuo^h 
the firm wood, and coaches with four horses 
daily drive through the old giant tree. Mr. 
Hutchings, the guardian of the Yosemite Val- 
ley, told us, that, after careful investigation, he 
was satisfied that when the bark was on, and 
before fires had reduced the trunk, the tree was 
forty-two feet in diameter. 

The Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa 
Grove are a reservation, given by the United 
States to the State of California to be forever 
preserved. 

Last August, while approaching the Yosem- 
ite by the Mariposa trail, a stage-coach was 
stopped by armed robbers, and each person was 
robbed of every thing he had about him. 



THE CALAVERAS GROVES. 89 

In the afternoon of the 24th, Mr. Sperry 
kindly sent us in his private carriage twenty 
miles through the pine-woods to Murphy's, 
where we were to take the stage in the early 
morning for Milton. On our drive we saw 
large numbers of jack-rabbits feeding in the 
fields, often rising on their long hind-legs, and 
lifting their immense ears. A large wildcat 
crossed the road, and scuttled away into the 
woods. 

We took the rail, and lunched at Stockton, 
reaching San Francisco at seven o'clock the 
25th of June, after sixteen hours of dusty 
travel. 

It takes twelve days to fairly visit the Yosem- 
ite and the '' Big Trees " and return to San 
Francisco. 

During this trip we saw mining enough, — 
//a^^r- mining, quartz, and hydraulic mining 
also ; and we saw the many acres that had been 
dug over by toilsome hands in pursuit of gold : 
wherever that was done, barrenness appeared. 



90 FROM FIFTH A VENUE TO ALASKA. 



CHAPTER X. 

RETURN TO SAN FRANCISCO. — THE CLIMATE.— PUB- 
LIC AND PRIVATE BUILDINGS, ETC. 

On the 25th of June we returned to San 
Francisco, and were again at the Palace Hotel. 
The cHmate is pecuHar, a sea-fog every morn- 
ing which clears off before noon, revealing a 
warm sun : this is soon followed by a wind 
from the ocean, which is cold ; there is scarce 
a summer day in which you do not need an 
overcoat if you drive out. But for the dust (as 
there is no summer rain) it would be a charm- 
ing climate, and it is an attractive place as it is. 
There are more than two hundred and fifty 
thousand inhabitants, made up of every nation- 
ality. The streets are well lighted, partly with 
electric light : they are generally wide, and the 
architecture is very imposing. The Palace 
Hotel is very high, occupies an entire block, 
and is built around a spacious court into which 
carriages are driven, after the style of the 
Grand Hotel in Paris. There are several other 
magnificent hotels and public buildings, im- 



RETURN TO SAN FRANCISCO. 9 1 

mense commercial blocks, and some of the 
most spacious and striking private residences 
on this continent. Except the basement story, 
the houses are generally built of wood : they 
are painted a dark drab color, which seems to 
harmonize well. The city is very uneven ; and 
some of the streets run up hills which are very 
steep, and would be almost inaccessible but for 
their cable-railroads. On one of the highest 
hills are the large mansions of Gov. Stanford, 
Mrs. Hopkins, Mr. Crocker, Mr. Colton, and 
others. The view from them is superb, and 
the interior of some of them is very splendid. 
The club-houses are good ; and the Pacific, 
where an entertainment was given to my 
father, is new and very fine. The hospitality 
of the place is unbounded, and our visit was 
made exceedingly pleasant. 

Mr. William T. Coleman took us fifteen miles 
up the bay to his country-seat at San Rafael, 
where he has a large estate and a charming 
house and pleasant household, made doubly 
pleasant by a dinner where we met a number 
of eminent men and attractive women. We 
came down the bay the next day, and had a fine 
view of the Golden Gate and the beautiful 
scenery. 

Mr. Coleman, an eminent citizen and one of 
the early residents of San Francisco, was at the 



92 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

head of the "Vigilance Committee" in 1856, 
which saved the city from pillage. 

To him we are indebted for numberless 
courtesies which added largely to the pleasure 
of our stay. 

We were introduced at the various clubs. The 
"Union," "Bohemian," and "Pacific" clubs, 
and others on the coast, have the excellent plan 
of so contracting with the wine-merchants as 
to allow the members to purchase their wines 
at the same price as the clubs themselves. 

The Pacific- Coast clubs differ from our New- 
York ones, such as the " Union " and " Knick- 
erbocker," in the mode of election. The fol- 
lowing is taken from the constitution of the 
" Arlington Club " of Portland, which was copied 
from the " Pacific " and " Union " of San Fran- 
cisco : — 

ARTICLE III. 

ELECTION OF REGULAR MEMBERS. 

Section I. All applications for admission to regu- 
lar membership shall be submitted to the Board of 
Directors, and approved by them, prior to the post- 
ing and balloting for the applicant, as hereinafter 
provided. 

We went to Oakland as the guest of Mr. Hub- 
bard, where we spent another pleasant after- 
noon. I tried a bareback ride on his daughter s 



RETURN TO SAN FRANCISCO. 93 

mustang, and, to my surprise, ran him without 

a tumble. In the evening Mr. G , jun., 

gave me an excellent dinner at the noted 
"Marchands" (the Maison Doree, as regards 
the cuisine) of San Francisco. Then we went 
over the Bohemian Club ; and afterwards be- 
hind the scenes at the California Theatre, where 
they were playing '' The Silver King." 

The next day my father was much pleased to 
meet his old friend and classmate, the Rev. Dr. 
Stone, now so eminent as a preacher. 



94 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 



CHAPTER XI. 

MENLO PARK. — GOV. STANFORD'S HORSES. — MR. 
FLOOD'S COUNTRY PLACE. — MR. D. O. MILLS. 

Major Rathbun Invited us to Menlo Park, 
where he has a cottage fitted up In pecuHarly 
attractive taste. He has charge of Gov. Stan- 
ford's place during the governor's absence In 
Europe ; and took us over the estate of six 
thousand acres, on which there are six hundred 
horses and colts of various ages. In training. 
The system has perfect organization, and as yet 
the governor has not sold any horses. Two 
hundred and fifty men are engaged on the 
estate. 

Although the governor has not until lately 
paid attention to running horses, his stock is 
said to be the third-largest private collection 
in the world. Here one sees the horse in every 
stage, from the foal to the old stallion with his 
long pedigree. The governor believes in the 
little oval circuses, where the young are trotted 
every day free from harness. He maintains, 
that, from thefr earliest existence, regular daily 



RETURN TO SAN FRANCISCO. 95 

exercise develops the horse's speed better than 
to allow the colt to remain during his younger 
months inactive. This he is said to have proved. 
Some ten or twelve stallions are kept, all of 
which contain good racing-blood from noted 
sires. 

Here it was that the experiment of success- 
fully photographing the movement of trotters 
at full speed was performed ; and my readers 
may remember the many illustrations which 
appeared in the sporting-papers, depicting the 
curious and almost impossible positions which 
the horse assumed. To effect this result, about 
a dozen very fine wires were drawn parallel to 
each other over the race-track, at equal dis- 
tances apart, which were connected with as 
many cameras. As the horse in his speed 
successively broke the wires, the slide opened, 
and an Instantaneous photograph was taken of 
the horse's movement as he appeared during 
that brief second. 

Races take place on the various race-courses 
of the farm ; and the times of both trotters and 
runners are accurately taken, improvements 
recorded, and the horses classed accordingly. 
The paddocks spread over a great area of 
ground, and the novelty of the sight is one 
not forgotten. 

Menlo Park is a natural park, with very large, 



96 FROM FIFTH A VENUE TO ALASKA. 

scattered oaks, with pasture and arable land be- 
tween. It is thirty-two miles by rail, on the 
way south towards Monterey. 

The country-seat of Mr. Flood is near by, 
where we were invited to go. It is immensely 
large, superbly decorated and furnished : each 
room is different. It stands in the midst of a 
large green lawn, kept fresh by irrigation, and 
the lawn is bordered with native trees. The 
outside of the pile is entirely white ; and, as you 
enter the grounds, the w^hite contrasted with the 
green reminds you of the Castle of Pierrefond 
in the Royal Forest of Compiegne. We saw 
Mr. and Mrs. Flood, their son and daughter. 
They were sensible, well - mannered people, 
without the least pretension. 

From the rail-car, we saw in the distance the 
handsome country-residence of D. O. Mills, Esq. 

Returning to the city, we met Mr. McAllister, 
an eminent lawyer of San Francisco ; Judge 
Hoffman, formerly of New York ; Mr. Justice 
Field, well known as one of the ablest judges 
of the Supreme Court of the United States ; and 
also Mrs. Field. 

We had letters to Messrs. Goodall, Perkins, & 
Co., agents of the Oregon Railway and Navi- 
gation Company. Mr. Perkins was lately gov- 
ernor of California, from whom we received 
most valuable civilities. 



RETURN TO SAN FRANCISCO, 97 



CHAPTER XII. 

CLIFF HOUSE. — SEA-LIONS.— GOLDEN-GATE PARK. 

June 30. — After lunching at Black Point 
with Gen. Schofield, commander of the Pacific 
troops, formerly commandant of West Point, 
we visited the Cliff House, and saw the noted 
sea-lions sunning themselves on their favorite 
rocks. Their grotesque antics proved no small 
attraction to visitors, and their roaring can be 
heard a long distance. They grow to an im- 
mense size, some of them reaching from two 
to three thousand pounds. They crawl up the 
cliffs by aid of their flippers, in a most slouchy 
manner. The noted old lion called Gen. But- 
ler, weighing more than two thousand pounds, 
gave us an exhibition of his prowess : seizing 
a seal in his jaws, he threw him some ten feet 
into the sea, and then waddled up the rock 
again to enjoy his favorite basking. Roaring, 
and fighting, and tumbling into the sea, varied 
their lazy lolling in the sun. As if conscious 
of their safety (the law forbidding them to be 
killed), you can see from fifty to a hundred 



98 FROM FIFTH A VENUE TO ALASKA. 

near midday, lifting themselves up the rocks, 
and making their hideous bellowing. They are 
terribly destructive to the fish in the bay. Thou- 
sands of black " hell-divers," ducks, and white 
gulls (also protected by law), use the same 
resting-places in safety ; so that strangers are 
fully repaid for their drive to the sea. Return- 
ing through the Golden - Gate driving - park, 
where the limit of speed is ten miles an hour 
(four more than the Central Park), we reached 
the " Palace," just in time to meet Judge Field, 
on his return from Oregon. 

July I. — To-day, in company with Judge 
Field, we went over Mr. Crocker's house on 
Nob Hill, which is immensely large. The suite, 
including hall, dining, and billiard rooms, deco- 
rated by Herter, is quite imposing. 



RETURN TO SAN FRANCISCO. 99 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE CHINESE. — WILLIAM T. COLEMAN'S SPEECH.— 
THE CHINESE QUARTER. 

California is a State of vast size and bound- 
less resources. She was admitted as a State on 
the 9th of September, 1850; and her growth 
has been very rapid. That San Francisco will 
become one of the greatest cities of the world, 
there can be no question. 

The Chinese quarter of the city is a unique 
place, and again we visited it. At night it pre- 
sents strange scenes. Without a guide, a stran- 
ger would be lost in the labyrinth of lanes and 
turns and numberless stalls and bewildering 
darkened lights. It is visited by both men and 
zuomen ; and many odd things are seen, some 
of which are not told. 

The theatre, where the same play continues 
through many nights, we saw once more, where 
all the performers are men ; where the music is 
made of the most clashing, unmelodious noise ; 
where no curtain drops upon the stage ; where 
the actors are clad in the most gorgeous robes ; 



100 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

and where the fio^htine with swords Is conducted 
In the most preposterous way, — the comba- 
tants constantly whlrhng around after clashing 
their swords, and then standing still for awhile 
with their backs toward each other, then whirl- 
ing in the swiftest possible way, and going at 
It again, and thus continuing this absurd com- 
bat for a lone time, when the other actors 
entered, and squalled with the most harsh and 
discordant voices. There Is no more melody 
on this Celestial stage than In a sawmill. 

The tea-houses are much frequented. Tea 
Is made by putting a few leaves into a cup, 
filling the cup with boiling water, then cover- 
ing It for a few minutes with a saucer, and 
then pouring it out to drink : It Is thus freshly 
made, and has this advantage. The cunning 
Chinee sells It to fools for seven dollars a pound, 
as something impossible to obtain elsewhere ; 
when, in fact, you can purchase better In New 
York for seventy cents. 

The Chinese question is curious and perplex- 
ing. The following speech of Mr. Coleman, 
delivered In San Francisco a year and a half 
ago, fairly expresses the sentiment of many of 
the better class In that city : — 

*' Fellow-Citizens, — I will treat the Chinese 
question in different aspects, probably, from others, 
and, as we are limited to ten minutes, will come 



RETURN TO SAN FRANCISCO. lOI 

directly to the subject. There are three things that 
can be said in favor of the Chinese that have attract- 
ed many people, and given them a status, where, per- 
haps, a fuller acquaintance with them, and a fuller 
consideration of all questions involved, would not 
have been so favorable to them ; viz., that physically, 
mentally, and politically, they are equal, if not supe- 
rior, to the average of mankind. Beyond that, the 
comparison is against them. Physically, as laborers 
in the field, on the farm, heavy work and light, in 
many departments, and as operatives and artisans, 
they show quickness, strength, sprightliness, endur- 
ance, accuracy, and fidelity, in a great degree. Men- 
tally, they are quick, acute, and correct in their 
perceptions, apt, strong, and tenacious in memory, 
and rarely fail in the lessons that have been taught 
them. In the higher walks we know that as schol- 
ars, statesmen, and diplomats, they are astute and 
far-reaching, and held in great respect. Politically 
(and by politically I give that meaning which em- 
braces politeness, adroitness, cunning, and artful- 
ness), they are shrewd and circumspect, and full of 
resources and adaptability. 

" If we could continue these favorable comparisons, 
there would be no need for this meeting to-day, nor 
the excitement and active opposition that have been 
made, and we are now making, and imist make, against 
their continued immigration ; but unfortunately, or 
possibly fortunately, here the fair comparison ceases. 
We find that in their habits, customs, thoughts, im- 
pulses, education, action ; in their ethics, morals, and 
religion (or lack of religion) ; in their social and po- 
litical views, — they are so different from us, so radi- 



I02 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

cally and essentially divergent, and in all so fixed, as- 
to make it undesirable for them to be with us or near 
us, and impossible for them to become citizens, or 
part and parcel with us. Nor do they wish to become 
a part with us. They come to this country merely 
as adventurers and gleaners, or, in their estimation, 
as conquerors of fortune. They come for a term, a 
cruise, a campaign, leaving behind their families and 
all they love and cherish and respect, — come purely 
seeking the ''golden fleece," to carry it back with 
them, or remit it to their homes, and to follow it ; 
never dreaming of permanently quitting their own 
country, or severing ther allegiance, adherence, and 
submission to the laws and will of China. They 
bring with them, and maintain, all their habits and 
customs. By their dress, garb, and every vesture,, 
they disdain and spurn the idea of affiliating or assim- 
ilating with the Americans or other ** outside barba- 
rians." They don't want to become, — at least, the 
larger part of them don't want to, — or think of ever 
becoming, permanent residents ; certainly of not be- 
coming, citizens, itnless it be as conquerors and 
masters, — holding their home allegiance firmly, and 
looking down on us with a quiet contempt. They 
feel that there they have a nation and history far 
superior, far higher, and far beyond all others on the 
earth. 

"The Chinaman conceives he stands on a higher 
plane, and looks back through the grand vista of 
ages in one unbroken view ; the grand colonnade of 
emperors, statesmen, scholars, soldiers, reaching back 
in one glorious sweep to the days of Confucius, now 
twenty-seven hundred years ago. Beyond that, he 



RETURN TO SAJV ERA JVC/SCO. I03 

.counts, or claims to count, thirteen hundred years 
more of unbroken history ; and beyond that — but 
only in the depths of tradition and song — he yet 
claims a grand ancestry. He points to the fact that 
China was old and prosperous when Rome and Greece 
were young ; that she had attained great advancement 
at the beginning of our Christian era ; that Confucius 
had taught his philosophy nine hundred years, and 
'Gautama his doctrines five hundred years, before that 
epoch. Coming down through the long period of 
fifteen hundred years, he shows, that, when America 
was * discovered,' China was in her highest state of 
civilization, and had a system of internal improve- 
ments and other grand works superior to any thing 
else on the earth. He claims for all of this a supe- 
riority physically, mentally, politically, and otherwise, 
and asks where can be a comparison made to him. 
He has much in this to be proud of; and while his 
■claims are excessive, and while our advancement in 
civilization, arts, sciences, literature, and wealth, 
under Christian dispensation, are so far beyond his, 
yet he is blind to them, and keeps his eye steadfast 
on the age and grandeur and unification of China ; 
and, with his mind always on the past, he has not 
believed, or has been indifferent to the fact, that the 
world moved and improved, and that he was centu- 
ries behind the times, and is positively retrograding. 

"Let not our philanthropic friends abroad think 
that the Chinaman is fleeing to America to seek the 
aegis of our protection. Let them bear in mind that 
there are no refugees from China except criminals. 
There are no social, political, or religious migrations, 



I04 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

like the Puritans to New England, the Huguenots to 
the South, like the Irish patriots, or the Jews from 
Russia to-day, fleeing for safety, and seeking an 
asylum and a home. . . . Even to-day she has a navy 
that puts ours to shame. She lies within thirty days 
of us, and could, if occasion require it, place on our 
shores an army, the equal of which modern times 
have not seen. This is not likely to occur soon, but 
it may come. The death of a single prominent China- 
man in this country, or a single American in that, 
or any mishap, may work a complication that would 
at once put us in arms. 

" It is said that in Great Britain there will be 
put afloat, this year, at least one million of tons re- 
gister of iron ships and steamers ; more probably, 
twelve hundred thousand tons, or twelve hundred 
vessels of a thousand tons each. If occasion re- 
quired, China could buy one-half this fleet ; and with 
her own, and such as she could get together, she 
could start a thousand vessels on short notice, bring- 
ing two thousand men each, and hurl, almost before 
we knew it, two million people on our coast. This 
could be readily multiplied, so that five, ten, or even 
twenty millions could be here in a comparatively short 
time. 

"Now, fellow-citizens, let me ask you and our East- 
ern friends what would be the position of California 
to-morrow with a Chinese invasion, and a Chinese 
settlement in the centre of every city^ every town on the 
coast, each one compact, unified, and solid against us ; 
with isolated Chinamen throughout the country, — 
men who could act, and would act, inevitably, for 



RETURN TO SAN FRANCISCO. 1 05 

their people, as scouts, spies, and guides, leading 
them through our mountain passes into our valleys, 
villages, and towns; betraying to them all our strong- 
holds, and exposing all our weaknesses ; every 
Chinaman in the country, with his knowledge of its 
topography and surroundings, being to the invaders 
worth a hundred of their own men ? With the large 
forces China could land here with modern arms, the 
land could be swept and devastated, as do myriads 
of locusts in one unbroken mass sweep over a coun- 
try, devouring every living thing before them. And 
do not let our people suppose that the Chinese can- 
not make soldiers. See them walk our streets and 
over our hills and mountains, — the long swinging 
step, and easy regular gait ; see them making long 
marches, and carrying big burdens over hills and 
valleys, and it is patent to every one that they would 
make splendid marching militia ; and, well broken in 
and well handled, they are good fighters too. 

"We would ask brother Hoar, and those who agree 
with him, to visit San Francisco, Sacramento, and 
our interior towns, and 'do 'the Chinese quarters, 
with all their filth, stench, and dissipation, and then 
say if they wish to embrace them as 'friends and 
brothers.* 

You find the Chinese everywhere, from San 
Francisco to the higher latitudes of Alaska, 
where we found twenty at work in one salmon- 
cannery soldering cans. We saw plenty of 
them in Astoria, Portland, all along the line of 



I06 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO AI.ASK^A. 

the railroad for two hundred and sixty-two miles 
in the Willamette Valley ; all the way from 
Puget Sound to Victoria ; in the lead-mines, 
iron-mines, gold-mines, as chambermen and val- 
ets, laundry-men, diggers on the road, workers 
at the irrio^ation ditches, waiters on the steam- 
ers, porters in streets, many thousand at work 
on the Northern Pacific Railway, servants in 
every grade and kind of labor and service 
everywhere. In Victoria they are very numer- 
ous. 

We talked with a captain of a steamer whose 
business it is to bring them from China (there 
being: no restriction ao^ainst their emio-ration to 
the British dominion, they land there, and then 
many of them make their way overland into 
the United States) ; we talked with many men 
in San Francisco, and along the cities of Puget 
Sound ; and we never found a man who did 
not say that no part of the Pacific Coast could 
get along without them : not a man wished to 
have the Chinese go, though many were vio- 
lently opposed to immigration. 

The Chinese are a curious people. They 
can never assimilate with us either in habits, 
thoughts, ideas of government, or religion. 
We took much pains to learn what we could 
about them. They are cleanly, and will not 
work where they cannot easily wash all over in 



RETURN TO SAJV FRANC/SCO. I07 

w^ter. They are industrious, economical, law- 
abiding ; never intoxicated or quarrelsome ; 
wonderfully patient and enduring ; can carry 
heavy burdens on their shoulders if suspended 
on a pole between two of them : but they are 
by no means strong in general, and in hard 
work with the shovel or pick can do but about 
half the work of an Irishman. They are very 
clannish, and will not work for a man who 
has treated one of them unjustly. When they 
leave a house, they are not likely to give a rea- 
son ; but they are sure to leave a secret mark 
which will prevent a Chinaman from remaining 
who may take the vacant place if left for cause. 
And yet, when one of them becomes maimed 
beyond recovery, or sick beyond hope of res- 
toration, they leave him alone to die, and go 
not near him except stealthily to see that he 
is dead, and then they hire some one (not a 
Chinese) to bury him. We never once saw an 
old, or halt, or lame, or blind Chinaman. This 
inconsistent trait, of leaving the hopelessly ill 
to die, seemed so strange that we asked many 
superintendents of railways, who had many 
Chinamen under their charge, about it ; and 
they all confirmed the statements which we so 
often heard. They seem to have a horror of 
touching a dead body. The bones are all that 
they especially care to have taken to the Celes- 



I08 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

tial Kingdom. They give no explanation of 
their pecuHar prejudices. They are very re- 
vengeful, even unto death, towards one of their 
countrymen who has wronged them. They 
seem to be afraid of the dead, but not afraid 
to die. To us they seem to have many strange 
inconsistencies : they are not of us, and they 
never can be. They are extremely acute, and 
understand the value of the law (which excludes 
new immigrants) to those who remain here, and 
they grade their wages accordingly. They do 
not drink, but many smoke opium injuriously. 
They seem a present necessity for this coast, 
where labor is so difficult to obtain ; but no 
American who has seen them in San Fran- 
cisco would wish to have an indefinite increase 
of their numbers. And when we remember 
that China is now very near, and can spare a 
hundred million without feeling the loss, the 
Chinese question is not free of embarrassment. 

The odors of the Chinese quarter misled me 
as to the cleanliness of the Chinamen. At 
first, I thought them filthy ; but further obser- 
vation convinced me that they are quite as neat 
as any other people of the same class, and 
more scrupulously careful in washing them- 
selves daily than laborers of the same grade 
generally are. 

All races of men and animals have an odor 



RETURN TO SAN FRANCISCO. IO9 

quite distinctive. The African, the Indian, and 
the Chinaman each differs from the white man 
and from each other. If dogs could speak, 
they would say that they can distinguish each 
human being by the scent. The peculiar smell 
which comes from the crowded dwellings of the 
Chinese, so disagreeable to the white man, does 
not arise from any especial lack of cleanliness. 

On our way to the Yosemlte, at a village 
called " Chinese Camp," we saw, walking with 
her mother, a Chinese girl of eighteen, tall, 
graceful, and truly beautiful, the daughter of a 
well-to-do Chinaman : she was born in Cali- 
fornia, and dressed In the American fashion, 
and was the only one of the Celestial race 
whom we met, at all good-looking. 



I lO FROM FIFTH A VENUE TO ALASKA. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

SAN FRANCISCO TO ASTORIA. — COLUMBIA RIVER.— 
PORTLAND. 

On Monday, July 2, 1883, we left San Fran- 
cisco in the steamer '' Columbia" of the Ore- 
gon Railway and Navigation Line, for Portland, 
Ore. Through the kindness of Gov. Perkins, 
the bridal chamber, a spacious room, was as- 
signed to us. The attentive Capt. Bowles made 
us very comfortable at his table. The '' Colum- 
bia " is a good sea vessel ; but the Pacific Ocean 
was exceedingly rough the entire way, and no 
one but my father (who is never seasick) was 
at the captain's table for nearly two days. 

Passing the bar at one p.m., we sailed up the 
far-famed Columbia River, grand in the extreme, 
although our view was much marred by the 
forest fires which completely shrouded some of 
the higher snow-clad ranges. The banks, cov- 
ered with dark and sombre trees growing to 
the water's edge, reminded one of the St. 
John's with the inundated cypress, and also 
of the Lower Mississippi. We saw quantities of 



SAA^ FRANCISCO TO ASTORIA. 1 1 1 

salmon-nets eighteen hundred to two thousand 
feet in length, and some eighteen feet deep. 
Sitting as I do on the bridge, the silence 
broken by the captain's orders, the vast river 
spread before us, the timbered shores dark and 
wild, give a certain lonely feeling of awe in 
the grandeur and freedom of the scene, which 
one does not experience on such lovely streams 
as the Hudson, Rhine, Danube, or St. John's. 
Salmon here run as high as seventy pounds, 
although of course this is greatly the exception. 
They do not rise to a fly, and are caught, 
throughout Puget Sound and the Willamette 
River, by nets, with a spear during a run, or by 
trolling with a spoon early in the morning or 
late towards evening. 

On the 4th we reached Astoria, near the 
mouth of the great Columbia River. Astoria 
is on the south bank, and by sea six hundred 
and thirty-nine miles from San Francisco, and 
a hundred and twenty miles from Portland, 
which is on the Willamette River, a south 
branch of the Columbia ; and Portland is twelve 
miles above where this river enters the Colum- 
bia. The Columbia is five miles wide at its 
mouth ; and, a few miles above, it widens to 
about fifteen miles. There was a destructive 
fire at Astoria on the morning of the 4th of 
July, the day of our arrival. 



112 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

The Columbia River was once called the 
Oregon. This is the river which Bryant men- 
tions in his immortal poem, '' Thanatopsis." 

" Or lose thyself in the continuous woods, 
Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound, 
Save his own dashings — yet the dead are there." 

Visiting Astoria, which now contains about 
six thousand people, I was induced to learn 
something of its history. I had always under- 
stood that in some way it derived its name from 
the eminent merchant, John Jacob Astor, the 
founder of the Astor family of New York. 

It appears, from the account given by Wash- 
ington Irving, that Astor, with that wonderful 
forecast with w^hich he was gifted, conceived 
the idea of establishing a trading-post on the 
Northern Pacific Ocean for trade with the In- 
dians. In the month of September, 1810, Mr. 
Astor sent the ship " Tonquin " around Cape 
Horn on her memorable voyage to the Colum- 
bia River, from which she never returned. 

On the 1 2th of April, 181 1, a launch from 
the "Tonquin" was freighted with all things 
necessary, and, with sixteen men, landed at the 
bottom of a small bay within Point George on 
the south bank of the Columbia River ; and 
there they commenced cutting the trees to build 
their fort and trading-house, and called the 



SAN FRANCISCO TO ASTORIA. II3 

place Astoria, after the projector and supporter 
of the enterprise. 

It may be interesting to some persons who 
read this book, to glance at a brief sketch of 
the life of that remarkable man from whom 
Astoria was named. 

John Jacob Astor was born in the little vil- 
lage of Waldorf, near Heidelberg, on the banks 
of the Rhine. He was brought up in the most 
simple rural life ; but while a mere boy, he 
made his way to London with a strong pre- 
sentiment that he would one day arrive at great 
fortune. 

While in London he managed to gain a little 
money, which he invested in goods which he 
thought suited to the American market ; and in 
the month of November, 1783, he embarked 
in a ship bound for Baltimore, and arrived in 
Hampton Roads in January, 1784. The winter 
was extremely cold, and the vessel was detained 
by Ice in the Chesapeake Bay for nearly three 
months. Thus commenced the career of this 
young man in the New World, a hundred years 
ago. 

On the 5th of June, 181 1, the "Tonquin" 
sailed from the mouth of the river, with twenty- 
three men on board. They picked up an In- 
dian interpreter, who agreed to accompany 
them to the north. Capt. Thorn arrived with 



1 14 FROM FIFTH A VENUE TO ALASKA. 

his ship at Vancouver's Island in a few days, 
and anchored in the harbor ; Indians came off 
in their canoes with sea-otter skins to sell. 
Thorn had been trained in a man-of-war, and 
was rather arbitrary in his manner, and had a 
great contempt for the savages. Some diffi- 
culty arose about the price of the skins, and he 
cleared his ship. The next day the Indians 
returned in great numbers, appearing to be 
very friendly and desirous to trade : they were 
admitted to the deck, and in exchanging their 
furs for merchandise it was observed that 
nearly all the Indians took knives in exchange. 
Having finished the barter, the captain ordered 
the ship cleared. In an instant a signal yell 
was given, and the treacherous fiends rushed 
upon their victims. All on deck were butch- 
ered. Lewis, the ship's clerk, was stabbed, and 
fell down the companion-way. Seven sailors 
had been sent aloft to loosen sail, and saw with 
horror the terrible carnage. Having no weap- 
ons, they let themselves down the outer rigging, 
in hopes of getting between decks where there 
were arms : three were instantly killed ; four 
made good their way into the cabin, where they 
found Lewis still alive. Barricading the cabin- 
door, and breaking holes through the compan- 
ion-way, with their muskets they cleared the 
deck. The Indians took to their canoes ; and 



SAN FRANCISCO TO ASTORIA. II5 

the four survivors of the crew discharged the 
deck-guns, which drove all the savages to the 
shore. Night came on ; and the four men left 
the ship in a boat, and hoped to escape. 
Lewis, having received a terrible wound, refused 
to accompany them : his companions bade him 
a sad farewell, and moved off with their little 
boat into the dark. Exhausted by fatigue and 
watching, they were driven ashore by the wind, 
seized by the savages, and murdered with all 
the lingering tortures of savage cruelty. 

The next morning some of the canoes came 
cautiously near the ship, taking with them the 
Indian interpreter, whom they had not killed. 
Lewis, who was not yet dead, reached the deck, 
and made friendly signs inviting them on board. 
It was long before they would comply. Lewis 
disappeared from the deck, and finally the 
Indians boarded in great numbers ; and in the 
midst of their eagerness and wild exultation, 
the ship blew up, and more than a hundred of 
these fiends were destroyed by the heroic act 
of the young ship's clerk. 

All these particulars were given by the inter- 
preter, who was blown into the sea, but not 
killed. 

Thus perished Mr. Astor's ship, with every 
soul on board, to the number of twenty-three ; 
but the town which the ''Tonquin" founded 
still exists. 



Il6 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

Mr. Astor had carefully warned the captain, 
in his instructions, not to allow the savages to 
come on deck ; but the captain, blinded by his 
courage, and his contempt for the savage, did 
not heed the warning. 

This was but one of the thousand mishaps 
and depressing discouragements which Mr. 
Astor encountered during many weary years of 
his earlier life. He earned his great fortune. 
It did not come of luck : it was the legitimate 
result of his great natural ability, energy, saga- 
city, and the persistent sacrifice of every pas- 
sion, luxury, or pleasure, which might obstruct 
his grand design. 

Of course I never saw him ; but I derive this 
estimate of his character from the record which 
Washington Irving, his intimate friend, has left 
of him, confirmed by the portrait painted by 
Stuart. 

At midnight on the 4th of July we reached 
Portland, and landed on the 5th. Large ships 
come up to Portland. It is a very prosperous 
city of about forty thousand inhabitants, and 
increases rapidly. The stores and business 
houses are large and well built, and many of 
the private residences are very fine. It is be- 
lieved that there are more rich men in Portland, 
for its size, than in any other city in America ; 
but there is not a healthy or comfortable hotel 



SAiV FRANCISCO TO ASTORIA, 11/ 

in the place. But the citizens are very hos- 
pitable, and Mr. Paul Schulze and his wife made 
us feel at home as guests in their house. Mr. 
Schulze is the energetic and enterprising head 
of the land department of the Great Northern 
Pacific road, which road will surely make Port- 
land quite the largest city on the Northern 
Pacific. It lies on the west bank of the Wil- 
lamette River, which drains that fertile valley of 
Oregon through which a railroad now runs from 
Portland. Large ships lie at the docks. It is 
useless to argue that Astoria, Seattle, or some 
other place, will be its future rival : it is too late 
for that ; too much capital and enterprise are 
there concentrated to be diverted ; and besides, 
considering all things, there is no more natural 
place for a great city anywhere in that region. 

We found the Arlington Club a delightful 
place, with excellent, fare and agreeable com- 
pany. We saw many of the business-men of 
Portland, besides Judge Deady, Senator Dolph, 
Congressman George, Mr. Koehler, Mr. Mc- 
Lean, Mr. Failing, and many others. We met 
several very interesting men at a pleasant din- 
ner given by Mr. Richard Koehler to my father. 

We noticed the same peculiarity at Portland 
as at San Francisco ; namely, a careful and 
effectual desire to conceal the names of the 
streets. On scarce a street could a name be 



Il8 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

found. In Portland I wanted to find Washing-- 
ton Street : meeting a gentleman, I asked him 
where it was, and he said he didn't know ; I 
had better ask a policeman. I asked him where 
I could find a policeman : he looked about, and, 
smiling, said he " guessed they didn't have any." 
I went along as my instincts directed, and met 
a Chinaman who had on American clothes, and 
looked as though he could talk American. I 
asked him if he could direct me to Washington 
Street. He said, " Ching chang see;'' and I 
went on. Soon I met another man, and put to 
him the same question : he looked dismal, put 
his finger in his ear, shook his head and his 
hand, opened his mouth, and looked like an 
idiot, and said nothing. I asked no more ques- 
tions ; and, after searching about a w^hile, I found 
the street : a long, wide street it is. 

There had been no rain in Portland for 
nearly two months : every thing was dried up, 
the dust deep ; and the surrounding forests were 
on fire, so that the smoke obscured our view, 
and Mount Hood, the pride of Portland, could 
not be seen. The days were hot, the nights 
cool. 

The sewerage of the city is bad, the place 
malarious, and it will become more so as the 
population increases. But they are making 
money so fast that they have no time to think 



SAN FRANCISCO TO ASTORIA. II9 

about health ; nor will they, until many have 
died, after a rapid increase of numbers, and the 
consequent generation of disease where drain- 
age is neoflected. 

The whole country is praying for rain to 
quench the terrible forest-fires. I remember 
one occasion, when deer-hunting near the Ever- 
glades of Florida, not far from Lake Okeecho- 
bee : our team of mules, *' Jeff Davis " and 
"Abraham Lincoln," drawing our provisions 
and corn for the mustangs, cursed and sworn 
at by the darky driver, slowly labored along 
under their load ; the stag-hounds, with tongues 
lolling out of their mouths, trotted by our 
side ; when suddenly the cry of " Fire ! " was 
given, and we found that the very fire that 
we ourselves had lighted that morning to 
drive the deer south (the wind having changed) 
was on us ; and we had just time to huddle 
together the mules and horses, while we, for 
an hour, burned in opposition, and with green 
branches fought the flames. Then, worn out, 
we lay down, the old hounds nestling round the 
warm glowing embers of the camp-fire. How 
well I remember keeping awake, looking up at 
the dark canopy studded with stars, until all my 
party fell asleep, and watching the flames run- 
ning up the pines, flitting over the branches, 
crackling, and spluttering, the limbs snapping 



I20 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

and creaking, until, charred and worn out, like 
Laocoon and his sons when overcome by the 
fatal serpents, writhing they fell. The next 
morning after breaking camp, and driving over 
the burning country, we found huge land tor- 
toises burned in their shells, in vain having at- 
tempted to escape. 

But to return : After dining with Mr. Schulze 
at the Arlington Club, and playing pool with 
Mr. Browne, a Harvard man, I reached my 
host's house in time for our night's ride. Mr. 
Schulze rode his high-stepping thoroughbred, 
while I mounted a fast- trotting gray of his ; 
and off we started in the night, about nine p.m., 
with the intention of reaching his little chalet, 
some three miles off, situated on a hill, where 
we would pass the night, returning to the valley 
early next morning for breakfast. It was quite 
a treat, being on an English saddle, after using 
the Mexican kind so much ; and I certainly think 
that tne English, although perhaps not quite so 
comfortable, are much safer for jumping. 

Slowly we wound our way up the hill, until 
meeting Tom, Mr. Schulze's Irish servant, who 
had been sent on ahead with an extra mattress, 
we were informed that the forest fires were on 
both sides of the road, making it dangerous, 
and that he had just run the gantlet through 
burning, falling limbs. Deploying, therefore, to 



SAJV FRANCISCO TO ASTORIA. 121 

the right, we took a more circuitous route ; and, 
after a couple of hours' riding, we reached the 
Httle frame house, neatly made of yellow pine, 
perched high up on the mountain, having a 
splendid view of alpine scenery during fair 
weather. To - night, however, all the woods 
blazed on nearly every side, raging like a molten 
sea ; resembling more the Chicago fire than 
any thing I can recall. No siege of Paris, or 
burning of the Tuileries Palace by petroleum, 
could equal this wild devastation of the flames. 
Am I forgetting what occurred on this event- 
ful night at Schulze's cottage ? No, never ! 
Am I oblivious to dear Schnapps, my host's 
dog ? What ingratitude ! Picture him, bow- 
legged, protruding under-jaw, twelve years of 
age, no teeth. No need to name the breed : 
the bull is stamped on every feature, — yellow- 
eyed, white-coated, with his off eye tinged with 
soot. Where the bull began, and the dog 
ended, I cannot tell. I don't know what his 
mother was, but he was bull. A wheezy kind 
of grunt first attracted my attention. What 
mattered it ? Poor fellow, he has a cold. What 
more natural ? He had wriggled behind our 
horses all the way up the hill. In the garden 
he changed his upper notes, becoming more 
guttural ; which tempted mine host to hazard 
the question of the Chinaman in charge, if there 



122 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

were any hogs on the place. Finally we con- 
cluded, that, considering the wind's course, we 
need have no fear as to the fire blocking us 
from our road back the next morning. 

Now arose the question : Shall Schnapps re- 
main out in the cold night air, or sleep inside ? 

*' Poor chap," said I : " let's have him in." 

" Yes," said Schulze : '' I'll rig up a bed in my 
room." 

Suiting the act to the word, he threw a piece 
of old carpet on the floor. But no : Schnapps 
trotted across to my room, and lay deceptively 
quiet on the rug at my bedside. 

Out went the light, and I lay facing the par- 
tially open window ; the moon stealing in, with 
the long line of flaring pines gleaming like a 
furnace in the darkness. My fancy began to 
wander ; when suddenly something like distant 
thunder fell upon my dozing senses, like what 
Rip Van Winkle heard when the Catskill gob- 
lins played at ninepins with dead men's skulls. 
Starting up, I saw Schnapps turning in his 
sleep, every movement of his body clearly de- 
fined in the moonbeams ; a bronchitis-like clear- 
ing of the throat, with an upheaving of his hind 
quarters. Then he slipped around the bed, 
eyed me with his malarious yellow eyes, gazed 
at the moon, tried various acrobatic stretching 
performances, arched his back, fell over my 



^-^A^ FRANCISCO TO ASTORIA. 1 23 

boots, and inadvertently overturned the water- 
jug, the contents of which he proceeded to lap 
up with a gurgling sound, like water escaping 
through the vent of a wash-basin, and then pro- 
ceeded to calm himself to rest, which meant 
circling around several times in various parts 
of the room, each revolution being followed by 
a flop, like Mark Twain's jumping- frog. My 
attempts to soothe were followed by threats of 
his bony appendage, sounding like the pulsa- 
tions of a donkey-engine. 

Again I began to doze, and again night be- 
came hideous. I got mad, seized the candle, 
and hurled it so successfully as to just strike the 
tip of his tail. That settled it : he just chewed 
the candle as if it had been spruce gum, and 
then lay down. 

Presently I felt an upheaval of my bed, and, 
starting up, found the beast raising up his 
back under my low-lying mattress. I could 
stand it no longer. Seizing the brute by the 
scruff of the neck, I hauled him over the 
matting, his fore-paws spread out in resistance. 
Catching the straw at every scrape, and half 
pulling, half lifting, I got him into my friend's 
room, — who had imagined all the time that he 
was hearing my gambols, and not the dog's, 
who had on former occasions conducted himself 
properly. Out into the night went Schnapps ; 



124 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

and towards two o'clock we again turned in, 
and soon fell asleep, lulled to rest by the dis- 
tant breathing of our cunning foe. 

All went well, until, towards three, I started 
up, and seized my five-shooter, hearing one of 
the most unearthly yells, that even a madhouse 
could not equal. Looking towards the window, 
I beheld in the moonlight Schnapps standing 
on his hind-legs, his head thrust through the 
open fissure of the window, caught like a mouse 
in a trap. Extricating him, I shut that window, 
and spent what remained of the night dreaming 
of wheezing, asthmatic curs sitting on my bed- 
post, and regarding me with bilious eyes. 

(ith. — Returning down the mountain, we 
took a short canter up the other road, and wit- 
nessed the result of last night's destruction. 
Huge trees lay across the path ; and pines, still 
burning, ominously burst and creaked occasion- 
ally, as if to give warning of their imminent 
downfall. Spent the remaining portion of the 
day in riding round the town. 



THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY. 1 25 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY. — OREGON AND CALL 
FORNIA RAILROAD. 

On the 7th of July we left Portland by the 
Oregon and California Railroad (which will 
soon connect with San Francisco) , to go up the 
Willamette Valley as far as Glendale, the pres- 
ent terminus of the road, two hundred and 
sixty-two miles from Portland. Capt. Mitchell, 
chief clerk of the Northern Pacific Land Depart- 
ment, escorted us, and was very agreeable and 
useful. 

We went in the president's private car, for- 
merly owned by the well-known Ben Halliday, 
the pioneer railroad-king. The car afforded 
every facility and accommodation for sleeping 
and dining, with lounges and sofas for the day- 
time. Two boxes of Roederer and good claret 
were on board, so that we all lived in luxury. 

For a long distance the valley is level and 
productive. The road passes through Salem 
the capital of Oregon, and the town is pleas- 
antly situated in a fertile region : it is fifty-four 
miles south from Portland. 



126 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA, 

Beyond Springfield, some one hundred and 
thirty miles from Portland, the mountain region 
begins, and the road Is very crooked. At Glen- 
dale a tunnel of about three thousand feet was 
being made through the mountains, and the 
process of boring with diamond drills and com- 
pressed air we saw in perfection. 

It was curious to see here, In the lone moun- 
tain woods, so many new houses, so new that 
the sawdust was still clinging to the boards. 
Small they were Indeed, but they had great 
names and many occupants. One had a sign 
in large black letters, "Palace Hotel ;" another, 
'' California House ; " and several more, high- 
sounding names. The occupants were laborers 
on the railroad. There were white men, Chi- 
nese, squaws, and one white woman with a 
baby In her lap. 

Mr. Burick, a Scotchman, a superintendent 
of the road, joined us. He had long years of 
experience with Chinese laborers, and he re- 
lated to us many particulars of the way the 
Chinese leave their sick to die. So strange 
and unnatural did It seem, that, meeting Gov. 
Chadwick at dinner that evening, my father 
repeated Mr. Burlck's statements ; and the gov- 
ernor confirmed them. Subsequently we heard 
similar statements respecting the Chinese, from 
a dozen men at least. 



THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY. 12/ 

Since returning to New York, I have talked 
with three gentlemen who lived in China : two 
of them believed what was told us about the 
neglect of the Chinese towards the hopelessly 
sick or maimed, but one doubted. Another 
added, that if you would place the same number 
of the same class of citizens from this country, 
in China, and let them be compelled to suffer 
the same privations, they would be no more 
considerate of each other. 

At a funeral, the corpse is borne on a litter, 
exposed. Several men sprinkle little papers 
along the road, as a trail for the departed to 
return home. At the grave, a roast-pig is 
placed crossways, with other eatables, and 
lighted pieces of punk to chase away the evil 
spirit ; and hired mourners stand near, uttering 
nasal cries of supposed anguish. It is said 
that sneak-thieves occasionally after the cere- 
mony go to the grave, and steal the roast-pig. 

At Salem, the capital of Oregon, we learned 
that seventeen convicts had escaped from the 
city jail only two nights previous : four were 
killed, and six captured, the remaining seven 
being still at large. As they had taken refuge 
among the mountain fastnesses, were well armed, 
and possessed plenty of food, their seizure was 
despaired of. 

On this trip we were told, that, in the early 



128 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

days of Oregon, Congress passed a law to 
favor the more rapid settlement of the Terri- 
tory, giving every settler three hundred and 
twenty acres of land, and every settler with a 
wife six hundred and forty acres. Women were 
very scarce : and to get the double portion many 
men married Indian women, and three men 
married one squaw ; they each kept the land, 
but neither kept the squaw. 

All along the valley we found the smoke 
from forest-fires, which had produced and were 
producing great destruction. 

Having returned to Portland, we saw Judge 
Deady, United-States district judge. He was 
one of the original men of 1849, but differed 
from most in foreseeing the ruin which the 
gold-fever would produce ; for which reason he 
settled in Oregon, rather than California, his 
earliest convictions being that gold discovered 
in a region brought more evil than good, and 
that the same labor devoted to agricultural pur- 
suits would produce far happier results. This 
view has been corroborated by many persons 
during our stay. 

We dined with Mr. and Mrs. Koehler, where 
we spent a pleasant evening ; Mr. Dolph, sen- 
ator from Oregon, being among the guests. 



THROUGH PUGET SOUND TO VICTORIA, 1 29 



CHAPTER XVI. 

PASSING THROUGH PUGET SOUND TO VICTORIA.— 
VICTORIA. — BRITISH COLUMBIA. — THE TREATY 
SURRENDERING THE LINE OF 54° 40'. — BIG CLAMS. 
— VANCOUVER'S ISLAND. 

We took a steamer in the early morning of 
the 13th of July, went down the Willamette 
twelve miles to the Columbia River, then down 
the Columbia as far as Kalama, where we took 
the rail for Tacoma on Puget Sound. Tacoma 
is on a very high sand-bluff. The dock is at 
its base, where there is a good hotel. Here 
we took the steamer " Northern Pacific " for 
Victoria. 

The country from Kalama to Tacoma is mostly 
a gravel soil, and barren along the road. 

Mount Tacoma, some sixty miles to our right, 
a high and lone snow mountain, was often in 
sight, and is very splendid. 

From Portland to Kalama (by boat) is thirty- 
eight miles. 

From Kalama to Tacoma (by rail) is one 
hundred and five miles. 



I30 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

From Tacoma to Victoria (by boat) is one 
hundred and seventeen miles. 

We now sailed through Puget Sound and the 
Straits of Fuca, to Victoria on Vancouver's 
Island — which ought to belong to the United 
States, and which, if we had stuck to our claim 
of 54° 40', would not now have left Alaska 
without its touching the United States at any 
point, and so situated that we cannot reach 
it without the permission of England, except 
through a long rough voyage over the Pacific 
Ocean (see map). 

Puget Sound is formed by the waters of 
the Pacific Ocean, which, running through the 
Straits of Fuca, extend some ninety-eight miles 
in deep, narrow inlets, down into Washington 
Territory. 

Commodore Wilkes, on his exploring expedi- 
tion, went into the sound with his two ships. 
He says of the sound, in his history of the 
expedition : — 

" Nothing can exceed the beauty of these waters, 
and their safety. Not a shoal exists within the 
Straits of Juan de Fuca, Admiralty Inlet, Puget 
Sound, or Hood's Canal, that can in any way inter- 
rupt their navigation by a seventy-four-gun ship. I 
venture nothing in saying that there is no country 
in the world possessing waters equal to these." 

Gov. Stevens, who was assigned by the gov- 



THROUGH PUGET SOUND TO VICTORIA. 131 

ernment to explore Puget Sound, thus describes 
this marvellous body of water : — 

"All the water-channels are comparatively narrow 
and long. They have all more or less bold shores, 
and are throughout very deep and abrupt, so much 
so that in many places a ship's side will strike the 
sJiore befoi'e the keel luill totcch the ground. Even in 
the interior and most hidden parts, depths of fifty 
and one hundred fathoms occur as broad as De Fuca 
Strait itself. Nothing can exceed the beauty and 
safety of these waters for navigation. Not a shoal 
exists within them ; not a hidden rock ; no sndden 
overfalls of the water or the air ; no such strong 
flaws of the wind as in other narrow waters, for in- 
stance, as in those of Magellan's Strait. And there 
are in this region so many excellent and most secure 
ports, that the commercial marine of the Pacific 
Ocean may be here easily accommodated." 

Through Puget Sound, for a hundred miles 
or more, we have lake scenery which cannot be 
surpassed in the world. The waters are deep, 
clear, still, and beautiful. Forest-trees of ever- 
green are on the shores, and no marshy banks to 
mar the scene; and the high Olympian Moun- 
tains in the west loom high, covered with snow. 

The first thing I did on arrival at Tacoma 
was to inquire for clams : they had none, to my 
great disappointment. Gen. McCook had told 
us, when at Salt Lake, of the enormous clams 
at Puget Sound. On the way I had said, — 



132 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

" We shall now see some clams weighing 
fifteen pounds." 

My father had replied, *' My boy, I will give 
you five dollars each for every clam which you 
-will show me weighing fifteen pounds." 

" Don't you credit Gen. McCook ? " said I. 

" Yes : I believe the oreneral has eaten clams 
of that size at Puget Sound, because he says 
so ; but I do not believe there are any more 
such. It takes a big baby to weigh fifteen 
pounds." 

I did believe ; and since — somehow or 
other not easy to explain — my pocket-money 
had all slipped away at Portland, I was actu- 
ally " strapped," and wanted to replenish ; and 
I relied upon the clams. But I was told at 
Tacoma that there were no such clams unless 
at Olympia, and that the big clams were never 
found except at low tide In June. We were not 
going to Olympla, and my financial prospects 
grew sickly. I persisted, however ; and, on 
reaching Port Townsend, I found a man from 
Olympla, and Inquired about the " big clams." 
He said that he had often seen them ; that they 
grew In deep water ; that they were very fat, 
and their meat protruded far out of the shell, 
and was very delicate. My father asked how 
large they were, and the man began to give 
their size by an expansion of his hands. '* But 



THROUGH PUGET SOUND TO VICTORIA. 1 33 

how much would they weigh ? " my father re- 
peated. After mature deHberation, the man 
said, " I really think that I have seen them 
weigh — four pounds!'' evidently doubting 
whether we would believe him. 

But at Departure Bay we met a man of more 
exalted mind, or of more faith in confiding 
natures, who said that he had seen clams in 
Puget Sound which would weigh twenty-two 
pounds. I could not find the clams, and my 
finances remained low. 

Vancouver's Island lies along the coast of 
British Columbia ; Is separated from the main- 
land by Queen Charlotte Sound and the Straits 
of Fuca. It is situate between 48° 26 and 50° 
55' north latitude, and 123° 10' and 128° 20' 
west longitude. It Is three hundred miles long, 
with an area of eighteen thousand square miles, 
— larger than the States of Massachusetts, 
Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Delaware com- 
bined. 

The best of iron-ores as well as coal are found 
in abundance ; gold, silver, copper, and lead 
are also found in increasing quantities. The 
crops are chiefly hay, wheat, barley, oats, and 
pease ; but turnips of all kinds, and potatoes of 
unsurpassed excellence, as well as many fruits, 
grow abundantly. The land Is well stocked 
with game, and the surrounding waters are filled 



134 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

with almost every kind of fish. The quantity 
of arable land is comparatively small ; but the 
forests are extensive, and furnish most valuable 
kinds of wood. The Douglas pines and the 
immense cedars are exceedingly valuable. 

The scenery is varied and beautiful, and the 
summer climate is charming ; the winter is not 
cold, — 84° Fah. being the maximum, and 22° 
the minimum, for the year. 

Victoria, the capital, is delightfully situated, 
and commands the sea. The roads are excel- 
lent, and the drives along the shore and around 
the lakes are unsurpassed. It is quite a sum- 
mer resort, on account of its salubrious air ; 
and here British ships of war find a pleasant 
station. 

We were obliged to remain here some days, 
waiting the arrival of the " Eureka " from San 
Francisco, a steamer of the Oregon Railway 
and Navigation Line, which was to take us to 
Alaska. Gov. Cornwall, the governor of British 
Columbia, drove us about the country ; and we 
dined at the Government House, w^here we met 
Mrs. Cornwall, her sister Miss Pemberton, 
Chief Justice Sir Matthew BIgble, and others. 
Admiral Lyon and Capt. Aicheson of the war 
steamer " Swift- sure " called upon us ; and we 
were entertained at a ball on the ship, where 
we saw many very agreeable people. 



THROUGH PC/GET SOUND TO VICTORIA. 1 35 

While dining at the Government House, the 
chief justice called my father's attention to the 
difficulty now existing, and likely to increase, 
about transferring prisoners through British 
waters from Alaska and other places, and sug- 
gested that we needed a treaty. My father 
suggested, that an easy way out of the difficulty 
was to transfer Vancouver's Island and the ad- 
jacent waters to the United States ; but the 
chief justice thought it would be better to an- 
nex Alaska to British Columbia. 

In this prettily-laid-out city of over seven 
thousand inhabitants, with its well-kept roads, 
we felt as if living in England ; and I was the 
more forcibly struck with the idea of being in 
a foreign city, on finding; this afternoon, that 
American stamps were useless for postage. 

The name of Sir James Douglas is quite one 
of the revered memories of the place ; and a 
monument stands near the Government Build- 
ings, as a landmark, recalling one of Victoria's 
earliest governors from 1851-1864, who died in 
1877, honored by the people whom in earlier 
days he used to defend against the encroach- 
ments of hostile Indians. 

The *' Swift-sure " is the admiral-ship of the 
fleet, carries five hundred and fifteen men and 
sixty officers. 

The antics of a pet black bear-cub, a few weeks 



136 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

old, gave us some amusement, as we made him 
stand up on his hind-legs for cherries. His 
teeth were already sharp enough to pierce my 
glove, and in this practical way I had a foretaste 
of the real thing. It was ludicrous to watch 
him climb like a cat over the ship, and go 
down the companion-way hind-quarters first. 

This princely possession we threw away by 
the treaty of June 15, 1846, and allowed Eng- 
land to take it ; to her invaluable, and, since 
we have acquired Alaska, to us a necessity. 
Through our blunder in that stupid treaty, we 
are severed from Alaska, and Great Britain has 
possession of fine harbors on the Pacific, and 
will soon send her railway-cars to the great 
ocean, and dispute with us the trade of China 
and Japan, and the transcontinental traffic of 
North America. 

During the administration of James K. Polk 
of Tennessee, the question of the north-western 
boundary between British Columbia and the 
United States arose. Congressional records 
prove that we claimed to go to the Russian 
Possessions, in north latitude 54° \d ; and it 
was shown by maps, in the archives of Holland, 
that our claim was well founded. During 
the public discussion about this boundary, the 
debates in Congress and the columns of the 
leading journals of the country defiantly pro- 



THROUGH PUGET SOUND TO VICTORIA. 1 37 

claimed that we would Insist on that boundary, 
or go to war. '' Fifty-four forty, or fight," 
rang throughout the country. 

But James K. Polk of Tennessee was presi- 
dent, and James Buchanan was secretary of 
state. The South was in the ascendant. The 
slavery question was already agitated ; and the 
dominant South did not wish to extend our free 
territory, but, on the contrary, were beginning 
to claim that much of it which was then free 
should be subjected to slavery. This popular 
cry of '' Fifty-four forty, or fight," was hushed. 

James Buchanan, secretary of state, and 
Richard Pakenham the British minister at 
Washington, concluded a treaty in June, 1846, 
which ought to have made the minister a duke, 
and placed the secretary in disgrace. The ad- 
vantage obtained for England by this treaty is 
incalculable, and was largely foreseen by British 
statesmen at the time ; and the imbecility of it 
on our part is just beginning to be seen by our 
countrymen. Mr. Seward felt it keenly when 
he secured Alaska for the United States. 

Instead of insisting upon 54° 40' as our 
northern Pacific line, to which we had an un- 
doubted right, this treaty provides that we take 
the humiliation of even bending our line of 
49° (running between the United States and 
Canada) down through the channel, and out 



138 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

through the Straits of Fuca, in order to give 
England the whole of Vancouver's Island, — 
priceless in value to England, and proportion- 
ally detrimental to American interests, as time 
is only too fast demonstrating. 

We had a visit from our worthy consul, Mr. 
Francis, who is largely respected in Victoria ; 
and we were pleasantly entertained by the con- 
sul and Mrs. Francis. They gave us some ex- 
cellent port direct from Portugal. Mrs. Francis 
brought down, with pardonable womanly pride, 
an old dressing-gown which Secretary Seward, 
when on a visit, had left behind, and written 
them to keep. 

Chinamen are very numerous in Victoria, as 
elsewhere on the Pacific Coast. At the Driard 
House, where we staid. Chinamen were the 
chambermaids, the laundresses, the porters, etc. 
We learned their character from many people ; 
and the statements were uniform, — that they 
are industrious, patient, and enduring ; not 
able to do nearly so much hard work as a white 
man ; excellent house-servants ; never drink, 
but smoke opium ; are cunning, secretive, and 
treacherous at times ; will not steal silver or 
large articles, but will pilfer many little things ; 
will file the coin, and melt the filings ; have 
strange whims, and will without any imaginable 
reason leave the house, even while you have a 



THROUGH PUGET SOUND TO VICTORIA. 1 39 

party to dinner, and will leave a secret mark in 
the house which every other Chinaman will 
understand, but never explain ; attentive and 
faithful enough to each other generally, but 
utterly neglectful to any one whose illness or 
accident seemed likely to prove fatal, — thus 
confirming all that we had heard in Oregon of 
this strange people, who never look happy nor 
very unhappy. 

At Nanimo, the port of entry at Vancouver's 
Island, we met Mr. Johnson, who is largely en- 
gaged in the manufacture of iron in Washing- 
ton Territory. He complained that the new 
tariff tended to destroy a great industry of the 
North-west ; that it imposed a duty of seventy- 
five cents a ton upon the magnetic ores mined 
in Vancouver's, which were necessary to mingle 
with the ores of Washington Territory, in order 
to produce a good iron ; and he thought this 
an illustration of the mischief which '' a protec- 
tive tariff" may sometimes produce. He men- 
tioned an accidental discovery of a valuable 
mass of bog-ore, which he made in wading into 
a river to unloose a fish-hook that had caught 
in the roots : in going in with bare feet, he 
stepped upon something which felt unlike any 
thing of which he had knowledge, and it turned 
out to be a piece of an excellent and extremely 
valuable ore. 



I40 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

On our journey we found it necessary to sail 
to the east of Vancouver's Island, through Brit- 
ish waters, towards Cape Fox, the first land we 
make in Alaska. 

Alaska commences at 54° 40', on the north 
shore of Dixon Inlet. 

If, in the boundary settlement above men- 
tioned, we had secured the line of 54° 40', the 
purchase of Alaska from Russia, made in 1867, 
would have given us uninterrupted dominion 
on the Pacific Ocean, from the lower line of 
California to the Arctic Ocean ; and neither 
Great Britain nor any other power save the 
United States could have a seaport on the 
Pacific north of South California. The Ameri- 
can statesmen who believed in the justice of 
our claim to 54° 40', and insisted upon our 
maintenance of it, were wise ; and the English 
statesmen who foresaw the effect of yielding to 
our demand were equally sagacious, and they 
excelled us in diplomacy. 

The boundary-line between British Columbia 
and the United States, and also between British 
Columbia and the Territory of Alaska, appears 
on the accompanying map. 



VICTORIA TO ALASKA, 141 



CHAPTER XVII. 

FROM VICTORIA TO ALASKA, STEAMER "EUREKA.'^ 

On the 19th of July the steamer arrived 
which was to take us to Alaska, — the ill-fated 
'* Eureka ; " being so called from the fact of her 
having been wrecked last voyage while passing 
through Peril Straits, latitude 57° 24', longitude 
135° 29'. Her tonnage is 454; foremast and 
mizzen rakish build, and modelled like a yacht, 
speed eleven and a half knots, flush deck, keel 
two and a half feet, lies five feet by her stern, 
length one hundred and eighty-six feet nine 
inches, brigantine rigged. 

With an exceptionally favorable trip, a good 
wind astern, every hope of soon having her 
bow pointed homeward, the ship " Eureka," the 
26th of May, 1883, at 11.50 a.m., while passing 
through this dangerous channel of struggling 
waters, struck an unknown rock : she speedily 
listed on her port side, and rapidly began to fill. 

The captain was on the bridge at the moment 
of striking : all hands went to their posts, and 
every order was obeyed with despatch. The 



142 FROM FIFTH A VENUE TO ALASKA. 

passengers soon came on deck, having encircled 
themselves with life-preservers ; and the fat cook 
came rushing out of the companion stairs. 
Every eye was on Capt. Hunter. 

The water, which had to pass through the 
coal ballast, at first filtered through slowly, and 
then gurgled in with a rush. Word came from 
the engine-room, that the coal-heavers had been 
driven from their posts. Three minutes later 
engineers were working up to their waists. 
Twelve minutes passed by : she began to settle 
at the bow. Every possible degree of speed 
was given her. The captain strained his eyes 
in vain for a spot to beach her. Both sides, 
narrow and treacherous, frowned upon him, re- 
pelling all search for aid. The cry came, " Cove 
ahead, sir ! " and just as the swelling water 
reached under the arms of the second engineer, 
she was run aground. 

All possible provisions were landed, boats 
lowered from the davits, papers and documents 
saved, every possible thing of most value hur- 
ried from the wrecked vessel. 

Beached at low tide, the water slowly rose, 
until, inch by inch, the ship slowly vanished ; 
and when the sun set, and the cool night air 
came rushing through the gorges, only the top 
of her bowsprit and the tip of her foremast 
were visible. 



VICTORIA TO ALASKA. ' 143 

Here alone, in this far north latitude of 
Alaska, stranded on an isolated shore, these 
few men began their weary sojourn, which 
lasted forty-two days before the necessary di- 
vers arrived from San Francisco. 

The United-States man-of-war '' Adams," un- 
der Capt. Merriman, was eighty miles off. Sev- 
eral of the crew took a small boat and a despatch 
from Capt. Hunter to the '' Adams," which 
Commander Merriman conveyed to San Fran- 
cisco. Four days later the little steam-tug 
arrived from Juneau, some eighty- five miles 
distant, and took off twenty-three miners and 
traders to their northern destinations. 

For these many weeks Capt. Hunter and his 
crew camped on this wild shore. Indians came 
and pitched their tents ; wild beasts prowled 
round the fires ; and during the twilight, eagles 
and crows wheeled above them as if they ex- 
pected, at no distant time, a goodly feast. All 
worked hard. The wreck was visited fre- 
quently, cables fastened to the trees, and every 
expedient used to prevent her drifting off, or 
grinding herself to pieces. So through the 
long nightless days they waited, building them- 
selves rough huts, and telling their same old 
jokes and tales around the fire, fishing for hali- 
but and cod, and occasionally bringing down an 
eagle, until the divers arrived with all necessa- 
ries and a good supply of food. 



144 FROM FIFTH A VENUE TO ALASKA. 

The damage was found to be six feet on her 
stern, and forty feet off her keel, from which 
one can judge the immense force of the colHs- 
ion. The usual charge for divers is some forty- 
dollars an hour, but the whole labor had been 
contracted for at four thousand dollars. The 
work needed two divers, and lasted just one 
month. 

The life of an experienced diver, even with 
all precaution, is full of danger ; and when the 
wreck or treasure to be recovered is a great 
distance under the sea, should the air-pump be 
unworked for even a moment, the diver's life 
would be extinguished like the flame of a 
candle. 

After being raised, the " Eureka" was taken 
to San Francisco, and at the end of nine days 
her damages were repaired, and by using all 
haste connection was made ; and to-night, the 
igth of July, 1883, we are sitting in her little 
cabin, a dim oil-lamp lighting up the face of 
the purser as he slowly tells us the preceding 
narrative of our ship's mishap. 

Whether or not the accident had dissuaded 
tourists from taking this voyage to Northern 
Alaska, I am unable to say. Be that as it may, 
we had the choice of any or all the staterooms. 
But as the smell of the new paint met us on all 
sides, the fear of sickness, combined with the 



VICTORIA TO ALASKA. 1 45 

solitary feeling that we should be afloat all by 
ourselves for several weeks, without change or 
intercourse with the civilized world, was not 
agreeable ; and had it not been for the hope of 
viewing the inland seas, aurora borealis, vast 
glaciers, — grander and larger than any in Nor- 
way or Switzerland, — the sun at night, and 
majestic mountains rising precipitately from the 
water's edge, we might have been dissuaded 
from starting. However, casting off the cables, 
we steamed away from Victoria toward nightfall, 
and left this pleasant little city in our wake. 

Before going to sleep, I paced the deck with 
the chief officer, Mr. Burr. Noticing that he 
walked lame, I found that only a few days be- 
fore he had been on the " Mississippi," which 
burned to the water's edge at Seattle on Puget 
Sound. Being chief officer, and having to give 
orders, he remained on deck until the last 
moment, shivering in a shirt and pair of stock- 
ings ; not one of the crowd on the wharf offer- 
ing the use of a coat. Just before leaving, he 
remembered that a sick sailor lay asleep ; and 
while carrying him out of the forecastle a piece 
of timber fell, and struck him on the ankle, and 
so disabled him. 

20th. — This morning we reached Departure 
Bay, the coal-station, and took on board one 
hundred and fifty tons. 



146 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

The coal-mines are very extensive. In min- 
ing the coal, in many places, they are obliged to 
dig through sulphur formations, which so in- 
jure the eyes that the men cannot work longer 
than one or two hours a day. But they made 
the singular discovery that the Chinese miners 
are not affected at all by the sulphur fumes, — 
no more singular, however, than is the fact that 
the poison-oak of California and the poison- 
ivy of the North are harmless to some, and 
exceedingly poisonous to others. The subtile 
differences in human constitutions, which ren- 
der some liable to diseases from influences 
which do not affect others, and to be harmed 
by fruits and other food which may benefit 
many, is a mystery which no science has yet 
solved. 



ALASKA 



WITH MAPS SHOWING HOW THE UNITED STATES ARE 

SEVERED FROM ALASKA BY BRITISH 

COLUMBIA. 



ALASKA. ■ 149 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

ALASKA. — INDIANS. — SCENERY. — LYNCH-LAW. — RE- 
SOURCES.— CLIMATE, ETC. 

We are now In latitude 49° ; expect to reach 
Pyramid Harbor In Northern Alaska, latitude 
59° 12', longitude 135° 20', which, compared 
with New York, will give some idea of our 
northern course. • 

The Indians, in loading or unloading here 
(the whites being scarce), require just as much 
pay as white men, while the Chinamen receive 
less ; the Indians being found much better 
workers from the fact of their orreater streno^th. 

We find the climate fine, sun hot, appetites 
good, table excellent. Expect soon to be able 
to read or write during the greater part of the 
so-called night. 

The chief officer, concerning whom I have 
lately spoken, this morning was seized with the 
painter's colic, arising from the ship having 
been lately painted : he was seized with con- 
vulsions, and it required three men to hold 
him down. Later he began to recover, and 
we hope now he Is out of danger. 




c' 






p.,..,., ,r,A|%., |/ 



I50 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

We took a little paddle-wheel a few feet 
long, called the " Hyack " (the Indian term for 
" quick "), and found that she belied her name, 
making the distance of four miles to the town 
of Nanaimo in an hour and a half. Passed 
numerous Indian canoes, pulled by their dusky 
owners, the bows ornamented with red fresco- 
work, and carved with strange figures of birds 
and animals ; the prow being sometimes pro- 
tected with skins firmly fastened. 

The Indians here, as at Victoria, troll for 
salmon with a spoon, also using the spear. No 
one here has ever heard of their rising to a fly. 

Our captain, a Swede, we found throughout 
the trip an excellent man and most careful 
officer. His companions in loneliness, while ab- 
sent from his wife, were two dogs, — one a small 
brown retriever, the other a little liver-colored 
water-spaniel pup. They both now are lying 
near me, watching the coal sliding into the hold ; 
and the pup feebly wags the short stump of a 
tail, the last portion of which he has just lost. 
Telling the captain how most spaniels have their 
tails docked, he, without waiting for an expla- 
nation as to the modus operandi, before I realized 
the situation, had a chisel on the tail, and the 
ship's carpenter was driving it home. Half of 
a tail went over the deck one way, and a yelling 
pup the other. Calling him down, the captain, 



ALASKA. 151 

having no caustic, wound the tail in a tarred 
rag. Puppy soon recovered, and when working 
some day in rough brush after birds will thank 
me for saving him many an hour's agony from 
a future sore tail, arising from beating it against 
the undergrowth. 

We now coasted back along Vancouver's 
Island, steering a southerly course, heading 
toward Port Townsend on Puget Sound, in order 
to take on board an Alaska pilot. 

July 2\, — At Port Townsend, the purser 
took some lemons on board, which are always 
so greatly prized in northern latitudes. 

22d. — The steamship ''Mexico" arrived in 
the night, and gave us our pilot, Capt. Hicks 
by name, who, like most of the old-school pilots, 
navigated throughout our course by certain 
natural landmarks, in preference to keeping a 
log and steering by minutes of distance ; the 
former method, in case of fog, being totally 
useless. 

Skirting along Vancouver's Island, the sun 
glancing on the water, with occasionally a canoe 
shooting forth from the shore, we began our 
thousand-mile course through this wonderful 
passage made up of inlets, bays, sounds, chan- 
nels, and fiords, filled with innumerable islands, 
where the waters are very narrow, with high 
mountains on either side, where a vessel may 



152 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

sail some twelve hundred miles over deep seas, 
and no passenger suffer in the least from sea- 
sickness. 

Considering that the distance, even in a 
direct line, from Puget Sound to the head of 
Lynn Canal, is some seven hundred and eighty 
miles, where can such another sheet of water 
be found ? 

Through this northywest passage for days we 
sailed, through visions of unbroken grandeur ; 
the scene enhanced in beauty by the boldness 
of the shores, the precipitous and abrupt rise 
of the snow mountains from the water's edge, 
and the narrowness of the channels, some being 
not more than two thousand feet, the lead even 
then striking no bottom at fifteen fathoms. 
This fairy-land of moving extravaganzas of 
scenery was an amalgamation of Switzerland, 
Norway, the St. Lawrence with her rapids and 
islands, the picturesque loveliness of Loch 
Katrine, added to the arctic wonders of the 
high latitude of 60°. 

The lack of intense cold in Alaska arises 
from the reversal of the Japan current ; and 
the large amount of moisture and rain is de- 
rived from the vast ranges of snow-clad moun- 
tains continually meeting the warmer air from 
the waters by which they are encompassed. 

This afternoon a sailor swung a small empty 



ALASKA. 153 

mucilage-bottle from the yard-arm ; and we 
practised on it with our Winchesters, my rifle 
being the lucky one to reach it at the second 
shot. 

23^. — Still in English waters, British Colum- 
bia being on our right. When foggy the fog- 
horn is frequently sounded, the echo from the 
shores giving warning of our closeness. Dur- 
ing the night we were forced to stop, waiting 
for a turn in the tide, the opposing current be- 
ing too strong. 

Passed several Indian burial-grounds ; little 
white flags on poles denoting the mounds where 
their medicine-men and chiefs, '' tigees,' are 
buried. 

On Queen Charlotte's Sound we experienced 
a slight swell. 

A dozen whales are spouting a few hundred 
yards off: there are also several Gona-birds, 
somewhat resembling the Cape - albatross in 
flight and color ; although I have not heard of 
its bones being as yet put to a similar use, — 
viz., pipe-stems, — I think it practicable. The 
bird measures often eight feet from tip to tip. 
Numbers of bald eagles pass over the vessel, 
with occasionally a black one. Porpoises, 
shags, — a kind of black water- fowl, — black- 
fish, grampuses, and ducks innumerable, enliven 
the waters. 



154 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

2\th. — I began to realize the eulogy which 
Lord Dufferin pronounced on British Columbia 
and Alaska, extolling its scenery as being the 
most superb in the world. The advantage of 
travelling in this lazy manner, passing one's 
time in luxurious idleness, is very great. Each 
morning our eyes feast on new wonders ; for, 
while we are spending the nights in sleep, one 
hundred and eighty miles farther north in this 
strange country makes a change of scene. 

As we first looked from the ship's side this 
morning, the channel had greatly narrowed dur- 
ing the night, and a stone might almost be 
slung against either shore. Waterfalls tore 
down in headlong career, foaming, roaring, and 
finally breaking into the salt water, — meltings 
from the snowy peaks, or the outlets of lakes 
secreted far up in the hills. As we meandered 
in our snake-like course, each new turn seem- 
ingly being the end of our journey, the oppos- 
ing mountains on our approach slowly yielded 
the hitherto hidden gorge, which they appeared 
loath to disclose. Landslides often streaked 
the mountain sides, caused by the avalanches 
of the snow above : the track made by the 
slide soon fills up by a new undergrowth of a 
low, tough, elastic bush, from which the Indians 
make their ropes and baskets. 

The vegetation grows so thickly on these 



ALASKA. 155 

mountains, down to the very last morsel of 
earth untouched by the lapping of the waters, 
that nearly every pine after reaching a certain 
height dies from starvation, then falls and de- 
cays, returns to earth, and in turn supplies to 
others the very nourishment which he himself 
had in life struggled for in vain. 

Thick over the mountain sides, all the taller 
trees were dead ; and we found, by observing 
the thinness of soil which the slides revealed, 
that all the larger trees were starved to death. 

Occasionally we attempted revolver-shots at 
a passing gull or floating limb, and so the 
hours wore on. 

Later the sun became obscured by clouds : 
the air soon turned cold and exhilarating. 

As I sit here in the captain's room, back of 
the wheel-house, a little forward of midships, 
only a slight tremor from the throbbing screw 
is perceptible ; and on we float, gliding by un- 
trodden woods, and inland lakes without a 
doubt filled with trout whose fastidious tastes 
have never yet been tempted by a carefully 
constructed fly. 

The dogs are on the deck, playing tag around 
the windlass, or chasing their ever-escaping 
tails. Last night, having left several pages of 
my journal on the sofa, through the inborn love 
of a young dog for tearing paper, I was forced 



156 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

to attempt a little mosaic-work before re-copy- 
ing; although, owing to the spaniel pup's gen- 
erosity, I found that he had kindly refrained from 
swallowing any of the fragments. 

We hope to reach the lower portion of 
Alaska by midnight, our course for the last two 
days having been through British waters. 

Alaska is a vast country, more than twice 
larger than the thirteen original States. Its 
breadth from east to west in direct line is two 
thousand two hundred miles, and from north to 
south one thousand four hundred miles ; and 
its most western island is farther west of San 
Francisco than San Francisco is west of the 
coast of Maine. The mainland lies between 
54° 40' and 71° north latitude, and between 
130° and 170° west longitude. But the island 
of Attn, the more western of the Aleutian chain, 
is 1872° west longitude ; and the western bound- 
ary of Alaska, according to the Russian treaty, 
is 193° west of Greenwich, — very near to Asia. 
Quoddy Light on the east coast of Maine is in 
latitude 44° 47', longitude 66° 58' west. San 
Francisco is latitude 37° 48', longitude 122° 
26'. Attn Is 53° north latitude, 187^° west 
longitude : hence Attn Is just about as far west 
of San Francisco as San Francisco is west of 
the east coast of Maine. 

From the maps you will see how we are 



ALASKA. 157 

severed from Alaska by the British Possessions. 
No part of Alaska comes anywhere near the 
United States. One of the chief boundary-lines 
between Alaska and the British Possessions is a 
line drawn 'due north from the top of Mount 
St. Elias to the Polar Sea. 

Alaska, with certain improvements, was pur- 
chased by treaty with Russia made March 30, 
1867 ; and it was delivered in due form Oct, 
18, in that year, upon payment of $7,200,000. 
Secretary Seward regarded this acquisition as 
quite the crowning act of his official life. 

At the time of the transfer, Russia claimed 
a population of sixty-six thousand : possibly 
there were forty-five thousand, Indians and all. 
The estimate made by Gen. Halleck In 1869, 
while secretary of war, makes the number of 
Indians sixty thousand. Mr. Dall makes the 
population far less. Estimates from the best 
sources which w^e could obtain lead us to 
believe that there are now in Alaska some forty 
thousand Indians and about five hundred white 
men. 

These Indians seem o have the same general 
appearance and characteristics, — the tribes dif- 
fering no more than families differ in England 
or America. They are everywhere about the 
same color, — much the same shade as the 
Chinese. They are as low in the scale of 



158 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

humanity as North-American Indians generally 
are ; that is, ignorant, ungrateful, treacherous, 
cruel savages. 

Sentimental people who read Cooper's novels 
for history, and overflow with "telescopic be- 
nevolence," fancy that the " noble Indian " has 
contracted his chief vices from the white man. 
But the red men of Alaska have been so isolated 
that here we can see them in the pure state of 
unadulterated savagery. It cannot be said, 
with the smallest degree of truth, that these 
red Pagans have been corrupted by white 
Christians. 

The Rev. Sheldon Jackson, missionary to the 
Indians, in his valuable work upon Alaska, 
shows the utter degradation of these savages ; 
citing in proof of their inhuman cruelties, dia- 
bolical superstitions, and revolting customs, his 
own experience, the published statements of 
the Rev. W. W. Kirby, Mr. Brady, Mr. Dall, Mr. 
Young, Mrs. McFarland, Mr. Duncan, and 
others. 

The Rev. W. W. Kirby, a missionary, says, — 

" In common with all savage people, the Indians 
regard their women as slaves, and compel them to do 
the hardest work, while they look lazily on, enjoying 
the luxury of a pipe, and often requite their services 
with harsh words and cruel blows. They are inferior 
in looks, and fewer in number than the men. The 



ALASKA. 159 

former probably arises from the cruel and harsh 
treatment they receive, and the latter is caused in 
a great measure by the too-prevalent custom of 
female infanticide. Spared in infancy, the lesson 
of inferiority is early burned into the lives of the 
girls. While mere babes they are sometimes given 
away or betrothed to their future husbands. And 
when they arrive at the age of twelve or fourteen 
years, among the Tinneh, the Thlinkets, and others, 
they are often offered for sale. For a few blankets 
a mother will sell her own daughter for base purposes, 
for a week, a month, or for life. All through that 
vast land, wretched woman is systematically op- 
pressed, — made prematurely old in bearing man's 
burdens as well as her own. In some sections, all 
the work but hunting and fighting falls upon her, 
— even the boys transferring their loads and work 
to their sisters. 

*' Said a g-reat chief, ' Women are made to labor. 
One of them can haul as much as two men can do. 
They pitch our tents, make and mend our clothing,' 
etc. 

" And, as if their ordinary condition were not bad 
enough, the majority of the slaves are women. The 
men captured in war are usually killed, or reserved 
for torture ; but the women are kept as beasts of 
burden, and often treated with great inhumanity. 
The master's power over them is unlimited. He can 
torture or put them to death at will. Sometimes, 
upon the death of the master, one or more of them 
are put to death, that he may have some one to wait 
upon him in the next world. 

*' Polygamy, with all its attendant evils, is common 



l6o FROM FIFTH AVENUF TO ALASKA. 

among many tribes. Those wives are often sisters. 
Sometimes a man's own mother or daughter are 
among his wives. If a man's wife bears him only 
daughters, he continues to take other wives until he 
has sons. One of the Nasse chiefs is said to have 
had forty wives. 

" On the Upper Yukon, the man multiplies his 
wives as the farmer his oxen. The more wives, the 
more meat he can have hauled, the more wood cut, 
and more goods carried. 

"After marriage they are practically slaves of 
their husbands. Among some tribes, their persons 
are at the disposal of visitors or travellers, guests of 
their husbands. They are sometimes, in Southern 
Alaska, sent to the mines, while their husbands live 
in idleness at home on the wages of their immorality. 
. . . During our visit to Fort Wrangell in 1879, an 
Indian killed his wife, and brought her body into the 
village for a funeral. No one could interfere. Ac- 
cording to their customs, he had bought her as he 
would buy a dog, and if he chose he could kill her 
as he would kill a dog." 

Mr. W. H. Dall of the Smithsonian Institute 
in his work on Alaska says, — 

" Polygamy is common among the rich. Upon 
arriving at a marriageable age, the lower lip of the 
girl is pierced, and a silver pin inserted; the fiat head 
of the pin being in the mouth, and the pin project- 
ing through the lip over the chin. Many of them, 
men as well as women, wear a silver ring in the nose 



ALASKA. l6l 

as well as in the ears. After marriage the silver pin 
is removed from the woman's lip, and a spool-shaped 
plug, called a labret, about three-quarters of an inch 
long, is substituted in its place. As she grows older, 
larger ones are inserted, so that an old woman may 
have one two inches in diameter. 

" Their method of war is an ambush or surprise. 
The prisoners are made slaves, and the dead are 
scalped. The scalps are woven into a kind of garter 
by the victor. Dead slaves are cast into the sea. 

'* They believe in the transmigration of souls from 
one body to another, but not to an animal ; and the 
wish is often expressed, that in the next change they 
may be born into this or that powerful family. 
Those whose bodies are burned are supposed to be 
warm in the next world, and the others cold. If 
slaves are sacrificed at their burial, it relieves their 
owners from work in the next world." 

We saw many Indian women with these 
plugs and fiat silver pins in their lips. 

The Indian record of the creation of the 
world differs from that of Moses. Mr. Dall 
says, — 

"Their religion is a feeble polytheism. Yehl is 
the maker of wood and waters. He put the sun, 
moon, and stars in their places. He lives in the 
east, near the head-waters of the Naass River. He 
makes himself known in the east wind, ssankketh, 
and his abode is Naasshak-yehl. 

*' There was a time when men groped in the dark 



1 62 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

in search of the world. At that time a Thlinket 
lived, who had a wife and sister. He loved the 
former so much that he did not permit her to work. 
Eight little red birds, called ktin, were always around 
her. One day she spoke to a stranger. The little 
birds flew, and told the jealous husband, who prepared 
to make a box to shut his wife up. He killed all his 
sister's children because they looked at his wife. 
Weeping, the mother went to the seashore. A 
whale saw her, and asked the cause of her grief, and, 
when informed, told her to swallow a small stone 
from the beach, and drink some sea-water. In eight 
months she had a son, whom she hid from her 
brother. This son was Yehl. 

*' At that time the sun, moon, and stars were kept 
by a rich chief in separate boxes, which he allowed 
no one to touch. Yehl by strategy secured and 
opened these boxes, so that the moon and stars shone 
in the sky. When the sun-box was opened, the peo- 
ple, astonished at the unwonted glare, ran off into 
the mountains, woods, and even into the water, be- 
coming animals or fish. He also provided fire and 
water. Having arranged every thing for the comfort 
of the Thlinkets, he disappeared where neither man 
nor spirit can penetrate. 

"There are an immense number of minor spirits, 
called yekh. Each shaman has his own familiar that 
does his bidding, and others on whom he may call in 
certain emergencies. These spirits are divided into 
three classes, — Khi-yekh (the upper ones), Takhi- 
yekh (land-spirits), and TekJii-yekh (sea-spirits). The 
first are the spirits of the brave killed in war, and 
dwelling in the North : hence a great display of 



A LAS A' A. 165, 

northern lights is looked upon as an omen of war. 
The second and third are the spirits of those who 
died in the common way, and who dwell in Takhan- 
khov. The ease with which these latter reach their 
appointed place is dependent on the conduct of their 
relations in mourning for them." 

A shaman Is a wizard, or sorcerer, a priest 
of shamanism. Shamanism is a religion of 
awful superstition which prevails in Northern 
Asia, consisting In a belief In evil spirits, and 
In the necessity of averting their malign in- 
fluence by magic spells and horrid rites. The 
prevalence of this religion among the Alaska. 
Indians Is one of the many evidences of their 
Asiatic origin. 

"In addition to these spirits, every one has his 
yekh, who is always with him, except in cases when 
a man becomes exceedingly bad, when the yekk 
leaves him. These spirits only permit themselves 
to be conjured by the sound of a drum or rattle. 
The last is usually made in the shape of a bird, hol- 
low, and filled with small stones. These are used at 
all festivities, and whenever the spirits are wanted. 

*' As the good spirits, from the very nature of the 
case, will not harm them, the Indians pay but little 
attention to them. They give their chief attention 
to propitiating the evil spirits : so that their religion 
practically resolves itself into devil-worship, or de- 
monolatry. This is called shamanism, or the giving 
of offerings to evil spirits to prevent their doing 



164 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

mischief to the offender. It is said to have been 
the old religion of the Tartar race, before the intro- 
duction of Buddhism, and is still that of the Sibe- 
rians. Indeed, long ago Paul declared, 'The things 
which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, 
and not to God ' (i Cor. x. 20). The sJiaman is 
the priest, who performs these rites, and is the 
sorcerer, or medicine-man, of the tribes : he has con- 
trol not only of the spirits, but, through the spirits, 
■of diseases, of the elements, and of nature ; he 
holds in his power success or misfortune, blessing 
■or cursing. 

** ' The honor and respect,' says Dall, * with which 
a shaman is regarded, depends on the number of 
spirits under his control, who, properly employed, 
contribute largely to his wealth. For every one of 
them, he has a name and certain songs. Sometimes 
the spirits of his ancestors come to his assistance, 
and increase his power, so that it is believed he can 
throw his spirits into other people who do not be- 
lieve in his arts. Those unfortunate wretches to 
whom this happens suffer from horrible fits and par- 
oxysms." 

Bancroft, in his ''Native Races on the Pacific 
Coast," thus speaks of shamanism : — 

"Thick black clouds, portentous of evil, hang 
threateningly over the savage during his entire life. 
Genii murmur in the flowing river ; in the rustling 
branches of the trees is heard the breathing of the 
gods ; goblins dance in the vapory twilight, and 
demons howl in the darkness. All these beings are 



ALASKA. 165 

hostile to man, and must be propitiated by gifts and 
prayers and sacrifices ; and the religious worship of 
some of the tribes includes practices which are 
frightful in their atrocity. Here, for example, is a rite 
of sorcery as practised among the Haidahs, one of 
the Northern nations : — 

" When the salmon season is over, and the pro- 
vision of winter has been stored away, feasting 
and conjuring begin. The chief, who seems to be 
principal sorcerer, and, indeed, to possess little au- 
thority save for his connection with the preterhuman 
powers, goes off to the loneliest and wildest retreat he 
knows of or can discover in the mountains or forests, 
and half starves himself there for some weeks till 
he is worked up to a frenzy of religious insanity, 
and the nawloks — fearful beings of some kinds not 
human — consent to communicate with him by voices 
or otherwise. During all this observance, the chief 
is called taamish ; and woe to the unlucky Haidah 
who happens by chance so much as to look on him 
■during its continuance ! Even if the taamish do not 
instantly slay the intruder, his neighbors are certain 
to do so when the thing comes to their knowledge ; 
and if the victim attempts to conceal the affair, or 
do not himself confess it, the most cruel tortures are 
added to his fate. At last the inspired demoniac 
returns to his village, naked, save a bearskin or a 
ragged blanket, with a chaplet on his head and a red 
band of elder-bark about his neck. He springs on 
the first person he meets, bites out and swallows one 
or more mouthfuls of the man's living flesh where- 
ever he can fix his teeth, then rushes to another and 
another, repeating his revolting meal till he falls into 



1 66 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

a torpor from his sudden and half-masticated surfeit 
of flesh." 

All the Alaska Indians are held in abject fear 
by the sorcerers, or medicine-men. Witchcraft, 
with all its awful consequences, is of universal 
belief. 

"The medicine-man, or sorcerer, or shaman^ as 
he is often called, demands large reward before he 
begins his incantations to heal the sick ; and, if he 
fails, he always declares that the failure is due to 
witchcraft. He then commences to find the witch, 
and he never fails. Hand over hand, as if following 
an invisible cord, he traces the witch, who is then 
tortured to death. He or she — as the case may be 
— is bound, with the head drawn between the knees, 
and then usually placed under the floor of some un- 
inhabited hut until the victim is dead." 

One of the officers of our government at 
Sitka told us of having rescued a young man 
whom he knew, from that horrid torture ; but 
he died very soon. Every Indian man and 
woman tried to conceal where the victim of 
their horrid superstition was concealed. 

We derived much valuable information at 
Sitka, about the Indians, from the Rev. John 
G. Brady, who was educated at Yale College, 
and came to Alaska as a Presbyterian mission- 
ary under the patronage of the late William E. 
Dodge of New York, about six years ago. His 



ALASKA. 167 

views about Indian character, and the chances 
of Indian civilization, agree with those of every 
intelligent man whom we met : they are not 
very encouraging. 

In the autumn of 1857 ^^- William Duncan 
was sent out from England to Alaska by the 
Church Missionary Society. On arrival at Fort 
Simpson, he gives the following account of what 
he found : — 

" I found located here nine tribes of Tsimpsean 
Indians, numbering by actual count two thousand 
three hundred souls. To attempt to describe their 
condition would be but to produce a dark and revolt- 
ing picture of human depravity. The dark mantle 
of degrading superstition enveloped them all ; and 
their savage spirits, swayed by pride, jealousy, and 
revenge, were ever hurrying them on to deeds of 
blood. Their history was little else than a chapter 
of crime and misery. But worse was to come. The 
following year, the discovery of gold brought in a 
rush of miners. Fire-water now began its reign of 
terror, and debauchery its work of desolation. On 
every hand were raving drunkards and groaning vic- 
tims. The medicine-man's rattle and the voice of 
wailing seldom ceased. . . . 

" The other day we were called upon to witness 
a terrible scene. An old chief in cold blood ordered 
a slave to be dragged to the beach, murdered, and 
thrown into the water. His orders were quickly 
obeyed. The victim was a poor woman. Two or 
three reasons are assigned for this foul act. One is, 



1 68 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

that it is to take away the disgrace attached to his. 
daughter, who had been suffering for some time with 
a ball-wound in the arm. Another report is, that he 
does not expect his daughter to recover, so he has 
killed this slave in order that she may prepare for 
the coming of his daughter into the unseen world. 
I did not see the murder, but immediately after saw 
crowds of people running out of the houses near to 
where the corpse was thrown, and forming them- 
selves into groups at a good distance away, from fear 
of what was to follow. Presently two bands of furi- 
ous wretches appeared, each headed by a man in a 
state of nudity. They gave vent to the most un- 
earthly sounds ; and the naked men made themselves 
look as unearthly as possible, proceeding in a creep- 
ing kind of stoop, and stepping like two proud 
horses, at the same time shooting forward each arm 
alternately, which they held out at full length for a 
little time in the most defiant manner. Besides this, 
the continual jerking of their heads back, causing 
their long black hair to twist about, added much to 
their savage appearance. For some time they pre- 
tended to be seeking for the body ; and the instant 
they came where it lay, they commenced screaming 
and rushing around it like so many angry wolves. 
Finally they seized it, dragged it out of the water,, 
and laid it on the beach, where they commenced tear- 
ing it to pieces with their teeth. The two bands of 
men immediately surrounded them, and so hid their 
horrid work. In a few minutes the crowd broke 
again, when each of the naked cannibals appeared 
with half of the body in his hands. Separating a 
few yards, they commenced, amid horrid yells, their 



ALASKA. 169 

Still more horrid feast of eating the raw dead body. 
The two bands of men belonged to that class called 
* medicine-men.' 

** I may mention that each party has some char- 
acteristics peculiar to itself ; but in a more general 
sense their divisions are but three, — viz., those 
who eat human bodies, the dog-eaters, and those who 
have no custom of the kind. Early in the morning 
the pupils would be out on the beach, or on the 
rocks, in a state of nudity. Each had a place in the 
front of his own tribe ; nor did intense cold interfere 
in the slightest degree. After the poor creature had 
crept about, jerking his head and screaming, for some 
time, a party of men would rush out, and after sur- 
rounding him would commence singing. The dog- 
eating party occasionally carried a dead dog to their 
pupil, who forthwith commenced to tear it in the 
most dog-like manner. The party of attendants 
kept up a low, growling noise, or a whoop, which was 
seconded by a screeching noise made from an instru- 
ment which they believe to be the abode of a spirit. 
In a little time the naked youth would start up again, 
and proceed a few more yards in a crouching posture, 
with his arms pushed out behind him, and tossing 
his flowing black hair. All the while he is earnestly 
watched by the group about him ; and when he 
pleases to sit down, they again surround him, and 
commence singing. This kind of thing goes on, 
with several different additions, for some time. Be- 
fore the prodigy finally retires, he takes a run into- 
every house belonging to his tribe, and is followed 
by his train. When this is done, in some cases he 
has a ramble on the tops of the same houses, during 



I/O FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

which he is anxiously watched by his attendants, as 
if they expected his flight. By and by he conde- 
scends to come down ; and they then follow him to 
his den, which is marked by a rope made of red bark 
being hung over the doorway so as to prevent any 
person from ignorantly violating its precincts. None 
are allowed to enter that house but those connected 
with the art : all I know, therefore, of their further 
proceedings, is that they keep up a furious hammer- 
ing, singing, and screeching, for hours during the 
day. 

" Of all these parties, none are so much dreaded 
•as the cannibals. One morning I was called to wit- 
ness a stir in the camp which had been caused by 
this set. When I reached the gallery I saw hun- 
dreds of Tsimpseans sitting in their canoes, which 
they had just pushed away from the beach. I was 
told that the cannibal party were in search of a body 
to devour : and, if they failed to find a dead one, it 
was probable they would seize the first living one 
that came in their way ; so that all the people living 
near the cannibals' house had taken to their canoes 
to escape being torn to pieces. It is the custom 
among these Indians to burn their dead ; but I sup- 
pose, for these occasions, they take care to deposit a 
corpse somewhere in order to satisfy these inhuman 
wretches. 

"These, then, are some of the things and scenes 
which occur in the day during the winter months ; 
while the nights are taken up with amusements, 
singing, and dancing. Occasionally the medicine- 
parties invite people to their several houses, and ex- 
hibit tricks before them of several kinds. Some of 



ALASKA. lyi 

the actors appear as bears ; while others wear masks, 
the parts of which are moved by strings. The great 
feature of their proceedings is to pretend to murder 
and then restore to life. The cannibal, on such 
occasions, is generally supplied with two, three, or 
four human bodies, which he tears to pieces before 
his audience. Several persons, either from bravado 
or as a charm, present their arms for him to bite. 
I have seen several whom he had thus bitten, and I 
hear two have died from the effects." 

Mr. Duncan is said to have met with consid- 
erable success in taming many of these inhu- 
man creatures. 

In 1878 a meeting was held, called a conven- 
tion, which lasted for two days, and over which 
Mrs. N. R. McFarland presided. We learn that 
she is a woman of great Christian energy and 
ability, and that she has had much success in 
teaching Indian girls. She gives the following 
account : — 

"The schoolhouse was packed full. We had a 
great many long speeches, until it began to grow 
dark. I had written out some laws, with which they 
seemed to be pleased. But as it was now five o'clock 
in the afternoon, I proposed that they should adjourn 
until the next morning, and that I would take the 
rules home, and copy them off ready for their sig- 
natures. The next morning at daybreak, Shus-taks, 
a chief, came out on the end of the point, as he 
always does when he has any thing to say to the 



1/2 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

people. He then made a great speech, telling them 
that he knew all about what we had been doing the 
day before, and that I was trying to make war 
between him and the other people. 

"When we met at the schoolhouse, that morning, 
we concluded to send an invitation to Shus-taks to 
come over, and hear the laws read, and, if possible, 
conciliate him. We also invited Mr. Dennis, the 
deputy collector of customs, to be present. 

" I had the first talk with Shus-taks. He was very 
hostile, and made bitter remarks. I tried to convince 
him that I had come up there to do him and his peo- 
ple good, and then read him the laws we had adopted. 

** He replied that he would like to know what I 
had to do with the laws, — that I had been sent there 
to teach school, and nothing more. . . . 

*' Mr. Dennis then had a talk with him, but I do 
not think it made the least impression. 

•'Then Toy-a-att made a talk to Shus-taks, indeed,, 
preached him a solemn sermon. He told him that 
he was now an old man, and could not live long ; that 
he wanted him to give his heart to the Saviour who 
had died for him ; that if he did not, but died as he 
was living, he must be forever lost. 

" Shus-taks replied that he did not care if he did 
go to hell-fire, — that his people were all there. He 
then left the meeting." 

I believe there is a general opinion that the 
chief told the truth about his people. 

On the loth of July, 1878, Mrs. McFarland 
writes, — 



ALASKA. 173 

"We have had more witchcraft here, and the effect 
has been very bad on the minds of the young people. 
Some of my brightest and best scholars have been 
led away by it. As we have no kind of law, none of 
the whites felt that they had any right to interfere." 

On the 5th of December, 1878, Rev. Mr. 
Young, a missionary, writes from Fort Wran- 
gell : - 

" We have gained a victory over witchcraft. Shus- 
taks and his wife were both sick, and of course must 
blame some one with having worked ' bad medicine ' 
against them. Young Shaaks, successor of the head 
chief, and nephew to Shus-taks, gathered up his 
friends, and caught an old man, one of our church- 
attendants, and accused him of being 'bad medicine.' 
They carried him to Shustaks' house, stripped him 
naked, tied him most cruelly, hand, foot, and head, 
and put him into a dark hole under the floor. 

** This happened at night. The next morning the 
clerk of the custom-house and myself went over to 
the house where all Shus-taks' and Shaaks' friends 
were assembled. They were very determined to re- 
sist any encroachment on their ancient customs; but 
we were equally firm and persistent that they should 
release him, and tie up nobody else without first 
consulting us." 

Slaves are held in Alaska. Rev. Mr. Brady 
says, — 

" These natives are very saving of every thing to 
which the least value is attached. Some of the 



174 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

chiefs are worth six or eight thousand dollars in 
blankets, houses, skins, and the like. Some are 
wealthy on account of their slaves." 

We saw, at Pyramid Harbor, an old man and 
his wife and son, who were the slaves of a young 
son of a chief, who sold their services, and could 
sell them or kill them at will. 

We speak of the Indians as wards of the 
nation. What hypocrisy, sham, and arrant 
humbug it all is ! Wards of the nation ! Great 
'Christian guardians ! who make no law, and 
exercise no restraint over their wards against 
their enslaving, maiming, and murdering one 
another, or against their diabolical practices of 
selling their women for debauchery, or torturing 
on charges of witchcraft, for revenge or gain. 

At the recent excursion on the Northern 
Pacific Road, a Crow Indian appeared with three 
bloody scalps of another tribe strung around 
his neck, — trophies of his recent murders, — 
strutting in vainglory to see Christian men and 
women stare at the evidence of his atrocities. 
Was he arrested, and his crime inquired into ? 
was he punished or even restrained ? Not a bit 
of it. He made boasting of his crimes. 

The great Crow Indian Reservation, contain- 
ing a vast quantity of some of the best lands 
in Montana, lies along the Northern Pacific 
road, partly between It and the Yellowstone 



ALASA'A. 175 

Park : here travellers can witness slavery, 
polygamy, the sale of women for debauchery, 
torture, and murder, without punishment or 
restraint. But it seems that these atrocities 
are not unlawful fo7^ hidians. 

The absurdity of our laws relating to the 
Indians will appear by the following decision 
pronounced by our highest tribunal on the 14th 
of December, 1883 : — 

"AN INDIAN MURDERER ,NOT LIABLE TO FED- 
ERAL LAW. 

Washington, Dec. 14. 

" A decision was rendered by the Supreme Court 
of the United States to-day, in the original habeas 
corpus case of the Sioux Indian Crow Dog, who was 
tried in the District Court for the First Judicial 
District of Dakota for the murder of another Sioux 
Indian named Spotted Tail, and, upon being found 
guilty, was sentenced to suffer death. Counsel for 
the prisoner maintained here that the crime charged 
was not an offence under the laws of the United 
States ; that the District Court of Dakota had no 
jurisdiction to try him, and that its judgment and 
sentence were void. The question presented, there- 
fore, in this court, is, whether the express letter of 
section 2,146 of the Revised Statutes, which excludes 
from the jurisdiction of the United States the case 
of a crime committed in the Indian country by one 
Indian against the person or property of another 
Indian, has been repealed. This court holds that 
it has not ; that, in such a case as the present one. 



176 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

the Indians have a right to try and punish the crimi- 
nal accordins: to their own laws and customs, with- 
out interference by the United States ; that the 
First District Court of Dakota had no jurisdiction, 
and that the imprisonment of Crow Dog is there- 
fore illegal. The writ of habeas corpits and certio^^ari 
prayed for will accordingly be issued. Opinion by 
Justice Matthews." 

I am told that no other decision could have 
been made under our preposterous system of 
Indian polity. It is to be hoped that the 
government proposed for Alaska will be an 
improved one. 

Extend the laws over our entire domain. 
Abolish slavery, polygamy, the sale of women 
for vile use, and punish the Indian for the same 
crimes and in the same way as we punish white 
men. Until this is done, what can a handful of 
feeble missionaries do to civilize these savages ? 

It was the testimony of all witnesses whom 
we met, that the Indian convert generally used 
the certificate of conversion to obtain gratuities 
or higher pay for what work he might do ; that, 
with very rare exceptions, they had no other 
idea of the value of Christianity. At Sitka a 
gentleman in the service of our government 
told us that a young Indian woman showed him 
the certificate of her baptism and conversion, 
to enhance the price of her vicious attractions. 



ALASKA. 177 

Never a man did we interrogate, whether a mis- 
sionary or trader, who did not assure us, that, 
as a rule, the Indian was destitute of grati- 
tude ; that he appreciated no kindness ; that 
he was always treacherous and cruel, and was 
influenced by no motive but revenge, fear, and 
the greed for others' property ; and nearly all 
said that no Indian wife, whether of white man 
or red, was ever true to her husband if tempted 
by a trinket. And yet we were assured that 
occasionally a young Indian girl married a white 
man, over whom her fascinations were amazing. 

In a large salmon-cannery at Pyramid Har- 
bor, we saw nineteen Chinamen and some 
twenty Indians working at the same long table. 
But for the dress and pigtail, we could not tell 
the Chinese from the Alaska Indians, so close 
was the resemblance of features, and the color 
was exactly the same. Upon inquiry we found 
that several Chinamen had intermarried with 
squaws, that they seemed to have a ready un- 
derstanding of each other, and could communi- 
cate through their language with greater facility 
than the whites. I imagine that they must 
have sprung from the same original stock. 

But almost conclusive evidence of the Asiatic 
origin of the Alaska Indians is the prevalence 
of shamanism, — that terrible religion, whose 
priests are called shamans, wizards, or sorcer- 



178 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

ers, practising" the same horrid rites in Alaska 
as in Northern Asia. A sorcerer's mantle, in- 
wrought with strange devices, was presented to 
my father in Alaska. 

The Aleutian chain of islands, belonging to 
Alaska and running near to Asia, may have 
formed the bridge of emigration in the earlier 
ages, or Behrings Straits may have been easily 
crossed. 

The climate of the north-west coast proves 
to be much milder than was supposed : it is 
found that the temperature of the Aleutian 
Islands is quite as moderate as that of Vir- 
ginia or Kentucky. 

The Alaska Indians are said to be less fero- 
cious than some of the more southern tribes 
of North America, but they are bad enough. 
By the official report of Gen. Halleck, made 
in 1869, it appears that the Haidas are hostile 
to the whites, " and a few years ago captured 
a trading-vessel, and murdered the crew," and 
that the " Stickeens also a few years ago cap- 
tured another trading-vessel, and murdered the 
hands ; " that the " Kakes have long been hos- 
tile, making distant warlike incursions in their 
canoes ; " that " they several times visited Puget 
Sound, and in 1857 murdered the collector of 
customs at Port Townsend in the territory of 
the United States." 



ALASKA. 



179 



At the salmon-cannery at Cape Fox, we 
stopped to unload some freight. Then we 
sailed through miles of whale-feed, a kind of 
oily substance composed of a species of jelly- 
fish, floating on the surface, forming food for 
the whale. Its color is yellow ochre, tinged 
with orange ; and it resembles the potage bisqzie 
which one would order in a cabinet particulier 
at Bignon's. The Indians, after drying, use it 
as an article of food. The Indians cure no food 
with salt. 

On the 25th of July we reached Fort Wran- 
gell. As we entered Wrangell Harbor, the view 
presented was transcendent in Its grandeur. 
The little village was spread along the shore at 
the base of a woody hill ; mountains of snow 
rising up in graduated heights, tier upon tier, 
gallery upon gallery, backed by icy pinnacles, 
curiously chiselled lance-tipped spires, gables 
and obelisks : It seemed like a mighty coliseum 
with its huge granite benches towering to the 
skies ; while we were sailing over the liquid 
arena which reflected this exalted scene. 

The vast semicircle of snow-mountains was 
in our front: below the snow-line, the dense for- 
ests of deep-green firs made a striking contrast 
with the snow. The sun was shining in our 
rear. The waters were clear and smooth as a 
polished mirror, and so reflected this marvellous 



l80 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

show of green and white and ghttering sheen, 
that we seemed salhng in hquid air, over these 
stupendous mountains, into the heavens above. 
Neither the Andes nor the Alps could present 
such a scene of entrancing wonder. All were 
still as we slowly, and with scarce a sound, 
moved through the silent waters, and seemed 
to look down upon the mirrored mountain tops 
as though we were sailing through the skies. 

The position of the bright sun, the stillness, 
and the hour of the day, combined to present 
a vision which did not seem of earth, and which 
will never fade from memory. 

Fort Wrangel was formerly much more popu- 
lous, by reason of the gold-mines, which no 
longer seem as rich as formerly ; white men 
for that reason leaving their old quarters, seek- 
ing new claims farther north, or returning to 
civilization. Only a few dozen whites live here. 

The greater part of the buildings along the 
shore belong to the Indians, and are made of 
rough hewn wood, the floor being covered with 
skins. Huge poles, some reaching as high as 
sixty feet, with carved figures up the whole 
length, stand in front of the graves and chiefs' 
houses ; the proportionate height of the wooden 
column marking the dignity and grandeur of 
its respective owner, the carvings signifying 
the genealogy of the family. Over one of the 
houses I read the following inscription : — 



ALASICA. l8l 

Anatlash [Owner's name]. 
" Let all who read know that I am a friend of the whites. 
" Let no one molest this house. 
" In case of my death, it belongs to my wife." 

Large numbers of dug-out canoes lined the 
beach ; and yelping Indian dogs, called cayotes, 
— half fox, half wolf, — scuttled away from 
behind the logs and stumps at our approach. 

Alaska contains many volcanoes. Grewingk 
mentions sixty-one, of which number only ten 
remain active. 

This remarkable country contains hot and 
mineral springs, the former in many districts 
being used by the natives for cooking their 
food. The crater of Goreloi is said to hold a 
huge boiling mineral spring eighteen miles in 
circumference. The island of Unalashka has 
thermal springs containing sulphur in solution. 

Copper River, above Juneau, contains large 
deposits of the metal. A pipe was presented 
to me, carved by an Indian out of some tough 
black wood, in the form of a dolphin, forming 
a complete circle ; the aperture in the centre 
meant for the hand ; the entire inside of the 
bowl being heavily lined with copper from this 
river. I pity the unfortunate white man who 
shall be the first to break it in for smoking : 
an Indian can appreciate and relish that which 
no civilized man's digestion could endure. 



1 82 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

Most of the deep chasms and ravines among 
the snow-mountains contain glaciers. Alaska 
has more and far larger glaciers than any other 
part of the known world. In Lynn Channel, 
near to Pyramid Harbor, latitude 59° 12', we 
saw a glacier twelve hundred feet thick at the 
lower end. Mount Fairweather is said to have 
one extending near fifty miles to the sea, being 
three miles wide and three hundred feet thick. 
The great glacier on the Stickeen River is forty 
miles long, over four miles wide, and five hun- 
dred feet thick. The Eagle Glacier, on the right 
as we go up Lynn Channel, is laid down on the 
government chart as " fully twelve hundred feet 
high." The glaciers and formation of icebergs 
at Takou Inlet are particularly described later 
on. 

In no portion of the Alps have I encoun- 
tered gigantic frozen rivers equal to those of 
x^laska. The ones which I have crossed, I can 
personally speak of; viz., the world-known Mer 
de Glace, Glacier des Bossus, and the Corner 
Grat with its six tributary frozen rivers. 

The aurora borealis, far excelling any fire- 
work display at the Crystal Palace, is seen to 
full advantage in the northern districts of 
Alaska lying within the arctic circle. Bancroft 
describes it '' as flashing out in prismatic cor- 
uscations, throwing a brilliant arch from east 



ALASKA. 183 

to west, — now In variegated oscillations, grad- 
uating through all the various tints of blue and 
green and violet and crimson, darting, flashing, 
or streaming In yellow columns upward, down- 
ward ; now blazing steadily, now In wavy un- 
dulations, sometimes up to the very zenith ; 
momentarily lighting up the surrounding scene- 
ry, but only to fall back into darkness." 

Whymper, In describing one display that he 
personally witnessed on the Yukon, represents 
it as a vast undulating snake crossing the 
heavens. 

''Singularly enough," says Dall, "they call 
the constellation of Ursa Major by the name of 
Okil-Ok'puk, and consider him to be ever on 
the watch while the other spirits carry on their 
festivities. None of the spirits are regarded 
as supreme ; nor have the Innuit tribes any 
idea of a deity, a state of future reward or pun- 
ishment, or any system of morality." 

Alaska possesses one of the largest rivers in 
the world, — the Yukon, navigable for eighteen 
hundred miles : Its full length is estimated to 
be two thousand miles. 

Fish and lumber seem the only Inexhaustible 
wealth which Alaska produces. Fur-bearing 
animals will likely disappear with the approach 
of civilization ; and even the seal-fisheries on 
the little island of St. Paul and St. George will 



1 84 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

at the present rate of destruction vanish in 
time, I fear, as have the buffalo from the plains, 
whose herds in former years were considered 
so vast as to be incapable of final extermina- 
tion. 

The Pribyloff group of islands in Behring 
Sea, leased from the United States by the 
Alaska Commercial Company, pays the govern- 
ment an annual rental of $55,000, and a royalty 
of $262,500 on the hundred thousand seals, 
allowed by law to be killed. The two small 
islands before mentioned paid into the United- 
States Treasury, between 1871 and 1880, two 
and a half million dollars. 

With regard to the fisheries, having visited 
all the most important canneries in Alaska, I 
should say that the catching of salmon, cod, 
halibut, and herring would remain a profitable 
industry for ages to come ; for, though thou- 
sands of men are laying their seines yearly in 
the Columbia, the salmon ''runs" are just as 
large, and the fish just as good, as ever. 

I quote the following, told by a missionary 
on the Naass River : — 

" I went up to their fishing-ground on the Naass^ 
River, where some five thousand Indians had assem- 
bled. It was what is called their ' small fishing : ' the 
salmon-catch is at another time. These small fish 
form a valuable article for food, and also for oiL 



ALASKA. 185. 

They come up for six weeks only, and with great 
regularity. The Naass, where I visited, was about a 
mile and a half wide, and the fish had come up in 
great quantities, — so great that with three nails upon 
a stick an Indian could rake in a canoe-full in a short 
time. Five thousand Indians were gathered together 
from British Columbia and Alaska, decked out in 
their strange and fanciful costumes. Their faces 
were painted red and black, feathers on their heads, 
and imitations of wild beasts on their dresses. 

"Over the fish was an immense cloud of sea-gulls 
— so many and so thick, that, as they hovered about 
looking for fish, the sight resembled a heavy fall of 
snow. Over the gulls were eagles soaring about, 
watching their chance. After the small fish had 
come larger fish from the ocean. There was the 
halibut, the cod, and the porpoise, and the fin-back 
whale, — man-life, fish-life, and bird-life, all under 
intense excitement. And all that animated life was, 
to the heathen people, a life of spirits. They paid 
court to, and worshipped, the fish that they were to 
assist in destroying; greeting them, 'You fish ! you 
fish ! You are all chiefs, you are ! ' " 

26th. — Three months ago this very hour, — 
11.30 A.M., — our little steamer, the " Eureka," 
struck her fatal rock in Peril Straits. 

As we left Wrangell at twilight, the day scene 
was soon transformed into revelries of moon- 
light, its gleams flooding the ice summits, and 
lighting up the dark gorges. 

The rain begins to descend, and we now 



1 86 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

realize the humidity of Alaska south of the 
arctic circle. Nearing Sitka I fully appreciated 
the superb character of the adjacent regions ; 
and though a drizzling mist is perpetually de- 
scending, and the sun no longer adds coloring 
to the picture, enough of beauty is present to 
create enthusiasm. 

The town, encompassed by mountains, over- 
looks the Pacific towards the west. Mount 
Edgecombe, the barometer of the village, 
protects it from the sea. Whenever rain is 
imminent, as a precursor of its advent, misty 
clouds envelop the extinct crater of this once 
active volcano. Its inward rumblings and deadly 
out-throw of lava are no longer felt ; and this 
Vesuvius, standing guard over a bay beautiful 
as Naples, bears tidings of the coming storm. 

As a natural bulwark for the town, innumer- 
able little islands lie dotted throughout the har- 
bor, against whose rugged opposition the waves 
lose their force. 

Sitka contains some three hundred whites, 
one hundred being Americans, two hundred 
Russians or Creoles. 

Through the courtesy of Major Gouverneur 
Morris, United-States treasury-agent, collector 
of the port at Sitka, with whom and his wife 
we passed a pleasant evening, I obtained some 
trout-fishing on a little stream near by ; and, 



ALASKA. 187 

though raining hard, in about one hour his 
secretary and I caught a dozen. The trout 
here, as elsewhere in Alaska, seem to prefer 
bright warm days, and seem the opposite in 
every respect to the Eastern species. In this 
small stream are four varieties: ist, whitish 
ground, with dark - brown spots, up to two 
pounds in weight ; 2d, dark, whitish - green 
body, with a black strip along the sides meet- 
ing, at right angles, other lines less clearly 
defined crossing over the back, — run very 
small, eight going to the pound ; 3d, same 
ground as last, with pointed black spots, also 
very diminutive ; 4th, similar In ground and 
markings as last, with hammer-nose, also small 
sized. All these species take salmon-roe or 
a trout's eye ; and, in fact, throughout Alaska 
I met no one who could vouch to having seen 
a trout rise to an artificial fly. Whether this 
arises from lack of insects in these regions, I 
am unable to state. They bite vigorously, but 
are not gamey when once hooked. Those we 
caught w^ere a couple of half-pounders, includ- 
ing one big fellow, considered the biggest 
brook-trout of that season, weighing one 
pound. 

Afterwards the Russian priest, in company 
with his sister, a bright young girl, speaking 
English fluently, took us over the Russian 



1 88 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

church, built In the form of a Greek cross, 
with an emerald-green dome surmounted by a 
tower containing a clock and five chimes. One 
wing, besides a curious font (the form of bap- 
tism being immersion), contains a picture of 
the Madonna and Child copied from the ori- 
ginal at Moscow. The painting shows nothing 
but the faces ; the background and the drapery 
being made of solid silver, the halo being exe- 
cuted in gold. 

The church contains a large picture of the 
Last Supper, the crowns and vestments cov- 
ered with silver. Immense candlesticks, can- 
delabra, and a picture supposed to contain 
eleven pounds of wrought silver, and huge gilt 
frames, lend the inside a very rich appearance. 
Three broad steps and four doors lead us into 
the '' holy of holies," across the threshold of 
which women are forbidden passage. Within 
stands the altar, little shrines, and closets con- 
taining magnificent robes of gold and silver 
brocade (together with handsome specimens 
of needle-work), from which most of the ori- 
ginal jewels have been stolen or removed, and 
replaced by others less in value. One robe 
made of rich green velvet was particularly 
attractive, the bishop's crown being profusely 
adorned with pearls and amethysts. The dim 
rellelous lieht was wantlne, the windows not 
even having been frosted. 



ALASKA. 1 89 

The Rev. John G. Brady thus narrates the 
tradition concerning Mount Edgecombe : — 

" This is a Mount Olympus for the natives. They 
say that the first Indian pair lived peaceably for a 
long time, and were blessed with children. But one 
day a family jar occurred. The husband and wife 
grew very angry at each other. For this the man 
was changed into a wolf, and the woman into a raven. 
The metamorphosed woman flew down into the open 
crater of Mount Edgecombe, lit on a stump, and is 
now holding the earth on her wings. Whenever 
there is thunder and lightning around the summit, 
it is only the wolf giving vent to his rage while he 
is trying to pull her off the stump. It would be a 
great calamity if she should lose her grip ; for then 
the earth would be upset, and all who live upon it 
perish. So, whenever it thunders, the Indians take 
stones, and pound on the floors of their houses, to- 
encourage the raven to hold to the stump." 

We now ascend the hill to the old castle. 
The castle was twice destroyed by Mount Edge- 
combe when in active operation, — once by fire, 
and once by an earthquake. 

Within this ruined remnant of the days when 
Baron Romanoff ruled with savage hand, — 
its walls made of vast hewn logs, riveted with 
copper fastenings, — hardly any thing but faded 
signs of the grandeur and decay of this once 
proud fortress remains as a landmark of the 
terrorism of those days. The old castle stands 



igO FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA, 

high Up on the rocks overlooking the lovely 
bay, and is used as a signal-station. 

Old legends still haunt the spacious rooms ; 
and when the wind howls through the door- 
ways and rushes down the spacious chimneys, 
they tell many tales, of which I here quote 
two : — 

**The legend runs, that, when Baron Romanoff 
was governor, he had living with him an orphan 
niece and ward, who was very beautiful. But when 
he commanded her to marry a powerful prince, who 
was a guest at the castle, she refused, having be- 
stowed her heart on a handsome young lieutenant 
of the household. The old baron, who, like the rest 
'of his race, was an accomplished diplomate, feigning 
an interest in the young lieutenant which he did not 
feel, sent him away on a short expedition, and in the 
mean time hurried on the preparations for the mar- 
riage of the poor countess to the prince. She, de- 
prived of the support of her lover's counsels and 
presence, yielded to the threats of her uncle; and 
the ceremony was solemnized. Half an hour after 
the marriage, while the rejoicing and gayety was 
at its height, the young lieutenant strode into the 
ball-room, his travel-stained dress and haggard ap- 
pearance contrasting strongly with the glittering 
costumes and gay faces of the revellers ; and, during 
the silence that followed his ominous appearance, 
he stepped up to the hapless girl, and took her hand. 
After gazing for a few moments on the ring the 
prince had placed there, without a word, before any 



ALASKA. 191 

one could interfere, he drew a dagger from his belt, 
and stabbed her to the heart. In the wild confusion 
that followed, he escaped from the castle ; and over- 
come with grief, unable to live without the one he 
so fondly loved yet ruthlessly murdered, he threw 
himself into the sea. And now her spirit is seen, 
always on the anniversary of her wedding-night, her 
slender form robed in heavy silver brocade, pressing 
her hands on the wound in her heart, the tears 
streaming from her eyes ; and sometimes before a 
severe storm, when she makes her appearance in the 
little tower at the top of the building once used as 
a light-house. There she burns a light until dawn, 
for the spirit of her lover at sea." 

There are also numerous Indian traditions, 
one running as follows : — 

" There was once but one man and woman on the 
earth. The man had a large box or chest that he 
guarded jealously, never opening it. One day, being 
obliged to make a long journey in company with his 
sons, and fearing that he might lose the key if he 
took it with him, for the way was long and rough, 
he left it with his wife ; charging her on no account 
to open the box, or permit her daughters to do so, 
for the result to them all would be fatal. She hav- 
ing promised, he set off with a light heart. Having 
the key in her possession, curiosity gradually over- 
came the woman's fears ; and after a few days she 
hesitated no longer, but, turning the key in the lock, 
opened the chest. Immediately out sprang the sun, 
moon, and stars, and began to circle around in their 
orbits; so day and night began." 



192 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

2'jth. — Went on board the American man- 
of-war '' Adams," under the command of Capt. 
Merriman. His action with reference to the 
bombardment of the Indian village near Kiles- 
noo was criticised as hasty, especially by those 
ignorant of the Indian character. We inquired 
into the actual facts. 

The old method of harpooning having re- 
treated before the present explosive bomb, 
seven fishermen near Kilesnoo were carrying 
on the killing of whales by means of this latest 
improvement. One day, at the critical moment 
just as the bomb left the thrower's hand, it 
accidentally burst, killing an Indian medicine- 
chief who was rowing ; and the Indians, holding 
council, took two w^hlte men prisoners, demand- 
ing two hundred blankets as their ransom : the 
remaining fishermen managed to carry the news 
of the affair to the man-of-war, being then at 
Sitka. Capt. Merriman instantly hove anchor, 
and steamed up ; upon which the frightened In- 
dians immediately returned the captives, having 
refrained from killing them, as they happened 
to be imperfect, or ''cttlhis^' one lacking an eye, 
and the other being lame ; the Indians deter- 
mining that two perfect men must die as an 
atonement for the unfortunate chieftain. Capt. 
Merriman, in order to prevent any such future 
outbreak, and as a reprimand for taking the 



ALASKA. 



193 



law into their own hands, in turn demanded 
four hundred blankets from the tribe, with the 
alternative, that, in case of the refusal to com- 
ply within twenty-four hours, he should open 
fire on the village. The day wore on, still no 
sign of compliance. Exactly at the appointed 
expiration of the time, the guns boomed forth. 
At the first fire, all the Indians, seizing their 
possessions, ran into the woods ; and after plenty 
of time had been allowed for their safe depart- 
ure, the artillery once more raked the shore, 
ploughing up the banks, and, probably for the 
first time in their history, these old mountains 
re-echoed the sound of cannon. Several boats 
having been run upon the beach, the crew set 
fire to a few hovels, and then they sailed away. 

At first glance, the bombardment and burn- 
ing of an Indian village by an American man- 
of-war, when reported East, sounds harsh ; but 
not so to a settler in this far-off possession. 
The whites have no protection from the United 
States, — no judges, no marshals, or government, 
to adjust their claims. Miners' rights have 
sometimes to be contested with the rifle : mur- 
derers and desperadoes have to be hanged by 
lynch-law. It is impossible for one ship to be 
at every point along twelve hundred miles of 
coast at the same time. 

From all sources we learned that fear was the 



194 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

great force that controlled the Indians. Capt. 
Merriman is respected by both Indians and 
white men throughout Alaska. The appear- 
ance of his ship-of-war at any station is quite 
sufficient to produce quiet, and the occasional 
firing of a gun at some mark on the shore re- 
calls to mind the bombardment. The damaged 
village soon sprang up again, better houses 
taking the place of the former wretched shan- 
ties. 

The Alaska Indians are very penurious, and 
even miserly. They can live on a little dried 
salmon the year round. 

Marked instances occasionally are met with 
among the missionaries of British Columbia 
and Alaska, who have had great success among 
the Indians by honest dealing, understanding 
the language thoroughly, and then entering 
upon their Christian labor by first teaching them 
how to provide for their physical wants. 

The collectors try to restrain the sale of rum, 
whiskey, and other alcoholic drinks ; but through 
smuggling and other means their introduction 
is effected. In fact, saloon-keeping at Sitka is 
by no means the least profitable source of in- 
come. Considerable molasses is imported, out 
of which the Indian makes hochenoo, a very 
intoxicating drink, the receipt having been 
brought them by a government marine. They 



ALASKA. 195, 

distil the molasses in a coal-oil can, a dash of 
petroleum being added ; and a little flour causes 
the fermentation. 

Every silver half-dollar and dollar given to 
the Indians at Wrangell or Sitka, they soon beat 
into bracelets, cleverly finishing their work by 
skilful carvings. 



196 FROM FIFTH A VENUE TO ALASKA. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

KILESNOO. — BARTLETT'S COVE. — PYRAMID HARBOR. — 
SALMON-CANNERY. 

We now approached Kilesnoo, the codfish- 
cannery under Mr. VanderbHt, to whom, as well 
as to many others in Alaska, we had letters 
from the president of the North-west Trading 
Company. 

An Indian, christened Saginaw Jack by Com- 
mander Glass, was strutting about the wharf, 
upon whom various uniforms and letters of in- 
troduction had been bestowed by various navy- 
men. In twelve hours he appeared in three 
uniforms, — middy's, then captain's, and lastly, 
as the vessel casts off, he swaggers and rolls 
round in all the splendor and glittering tinsel 
of a general in the United-States army. At 
his request we visited his wife, who, lying on 
the bed, was groaning from pain caused by 
inflammation of the feet. 

Mr. Vanderbilt told us an amusing incident 
of the result, in one case, of the effect of at- 
tempts to educate the Indians : one fellow no 



ALASKA. 197 

sooner had received the rudiments of arithmetic 
than he raised a note of twenty-five cents to 
two hundred and fifty dollars. 

Col. Crittenden, formerly collector of the port 
at Wrangell, told us an anecdote about the 
sagacity of some crows, which adds another 
argument in favor of the reasoning faculties of 
dumb animals. A quantity of crows having 
torn in pieces some of his chickens, which he 
was attempting to raise, he prepared for battle, 
and on the first charge shot four ; on their 
retiring, flying rather low over his head at 
intervals, he managed to bring down six more. 
Then all of them, cawing at their best, held a 
consultation on a neighboring slope, and flew 
next time some hundred yards high. Nothing 
more happened ; but next morning every one 
of his turnips, before unmolested, had been up- 
rooted and picked to pieces, though not eaten. 
Whether this was accident, I am unable to 
judge ; but I give it as told. 

The Vanderbilt cottage was tastefully and 
picturesquely arranged, a woman's touch being 
evidently near ; while the glowing fire throwing 
its light over the floor covered with bear-skins, 
together with the bright cheerful face of our 
hostess, made us feel nearer civilization than 
this high latitude would justify. 

To give some idea of the lack of fruit, Mrs. 



198 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

Vanderbilt had not tasted strawberries for six 
years. 

The Indians here, as elsewhere, owned quan- 
tities of mongrel dogs, a species of cayote, 
half wolf and half fox, sharp-snouted, wire- 
haired, having " a lean and hungry look," 
though differing from Cassius probably in think- 
ing " too much." The Indians put tin tags 
round the necks of those dogs they wish un- 
harmed ; for many, even on seeing one come 
near the house, shoot him at sight. 

Like the Indians of the plain, these savages 
enjoy as dainties filthy things too disgusting to 
mention. 

People thought, when Secretary Seward made 
his purchase of Alaska, that the region would 
never be more than a land of ice-bound rivers ; 
little realizing that the seal-fisheries alone would 
pay a six-per-cent interest on the cost. 

The Indian women throughout Alaska gen- 
erally paint their faces black, giving them a 
hideous aspect, for which many reasons were 
assigned, but no one in particular above the 
rest: ist, on hot days, when fishing on the 
water, as a preventive against glare, flies, and 
mosquitoes ; 2d, when oil, as a polish, is added, 
young women adopt it merely for show or orna- 
ment ; 3d, sign of mourning ; 4th, a sign of 
anger, a caution to their enemies that they had 



ALASKA. 



199 



better take themselves off; 5th, old women 
adopt it as a concealment of old age. 

As these topics of Interest were being dis- 
cussed, supper was announced : when it was 
finished, and the table cleared, we enjoyed 
whist until late. 

Just before leaving, Mr. Vanderbilt presented 
us with some pretty specimens of Indian work. 

Finally the ship cast off at three a.m. in 
search of Bartlett's Cove, — as yet not down 
on the chart, — a newly established salmon- 
cannery to which we were bringing a cargo of 
nets, staves, and other commodities. 

yuly 28. — As we reached the deck, our speed 
being about four or five knots an hour, on our 
port side lay shoals, reaching far out Into the 
straits. The undulating sands were covered 
with sea-birds. Gliding on through unknown 
waters (neither captain nor pilot ever having 
been there before), the scene was all the more 
attractive : icebergs, glaciers, whales, porpoises, 
sea-lions, all gave novelty to the scene. In- 
dians occasionally shot out from the shore in 
their little canoes ; but all attempts at conver- 
sation In the Hudson-bay dialect — Chinook — 
were a failure, none of the dusky islanders 
understandlnpf a word. 

On, on, we sailed ; rounding headlands, hug- 
ging shores, and casting the lead at frequent 



200 FROM FIFTH A VENUE TO ALASKA. 

Intervals. Once when the leadsman had 
shouted, ''Fourteen fathoms, no bottom!" al- 
most directly we heard the cry, " Four fathoms, 
bottom ! " Immediately the engines were re- 
versed, and we crept on at a slow pace until 
the dangerous shoal was passed. 

Twenty miles having been wandered over, 
towards afternoon we reached suddenly a cul- 
de-sac, and inquired of an Indian there, who 
by gestures gave us the information that we 
were some thirty miles off our course. We 
then re-sailed our course. 

Finally toward evening, after rounding a 
point, we saw a few white specks in the dis- 
tance, which the sunlight brought out distinctly; 
and our glass revealed the longed-for tent. 
There we found a man, living with an Indian 
woman, who in this wild land was striking out 
in the hope of making money by canning sal- 
mon. Canoes took off the cargo, shooting to 
and fro ; the colored blankets and barbaric attire 
of the Indians giving to the scene a wild charm. 

I bought a very fine skin of a large black 
bear which the Indians had killed but a few 
days before: this, I thought, would make a good 
sleigh-robe. 

The first run of salmon v/as over ; and as the 
meshes of their nets had been too large, being 
intended for the Columbia River, the fishermen 



ALASKA. 20 r 

waited our arrival for new nets, although the 
second run has smaller fish. 

yiily 29. — At about three a.m. father awoke 
me to see the grand glacier which we just then 
passed : and by the weird light of a nightless 
day we watched this wonderful frozen river ; 
waterfalls at intervals dashing down the oppo- 
site bank, demanding in their turn our admira- 
tion. 

We reached Pyramid Harbor, — latitude 59° 
12', — where one of the chief canneries of the 
North-west Trading Company was established 
under Mr. Karl Spuhn, to whom we had letters. 

The ship having to lie over all that day and 
night, the captain and I shouldered our rifles, 
and with two dogs, under the guidance of two 
Indians, — one being a chief of some note, — 
started up the mountain directly behind the 
cannery. We had been warned concerning the 
difficulties to. be encountered : the white men 
telling us that none but Indians had ever 
reached the top ; that they themselves had all 
tried, but the extreme steepness — the grade 
being nearly forty-five degrees for four thou- 
sand feet — had finally proved too difficult. 

The experience gained in parts of Canada, 
California, and Switzerland, led me to suppose 
that a mountain only four thousand feet high 
could hardly be inacessible. To be sure, the 



1202 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

ascent was from the water's edge, and not as 
at Zermatt, Chamonix, and the Engadine, from 
a base itself already several thousands of feet 
above the sea-level. There was no evidence 
of ice, and we could not see any rock ahead 
above us ; and I thought all would go well. 

From our start we thrust our hands in the 
soil, or clutched at the brush ; most of our way 
being over low hanging boughs, through springy 
branches of a small bush from which the Indi- 
ans make their baskets. Of course our guns 
added to the difficulty, as they could hardly 
be used as alpenstocks with any safety. 

We had started early in the morning, and all 
went well for four or five hours. Finally the 
young spaniel gave up ; and our kind-hearted 
captain made him lie on his back, and cross his 
fore-paws like a monkey round his neck. This 
extra weight added to the slipperiness of the 
ascent, which was so abrupt and arduous that 
after five hours the captain gave up, turned 
about, and began a rather hasty descent : in 
fact, for several hundred yards I could hear him 
as he went downwards, occasionally more sud- 
denly than he intended. 

Upward, still upward, went the Indians, with 
that slow, enduring saunter of theirs, which 
seemed never to tire ; occasionally they would' 
look round, with a sort of pitying expression, 



ALASKA. 203 

to see how the poor white was progressing. 
At last we reached snow, over which we passed 
to the summit. And there spread out before 
me was a panoramic view of lake and mountain 
scenery on a scale far surpassing in grandeur any 
thinor I had ever seen. The sudden outburst 
of splendor was all the more striking from the 
fact of our course having been through brush. 
I was hardly prepared for the sudden change. 
In the foreground, that which I before consid- 
ered the mainland now changed to islands ; 
beyond lay rivers, snow-mountains, glaciers, 
waterfalls, the ensemble forming a wilderness of 
solitude which I had not before imagined. We 
then made a detour, shot some grouse and a 
few ground-hogs, and began our return. It 
had taken some eight hours to mount : the 
descent only took two and a half. Reaching 
the snowbanks, we tobogganed down ; and in 
some places, on account of the grade, we had 
no difficulty in sliding down over the soil and 
stones, merely placing our feet together, half 
sitting down. A root or badly parried limb 
occasionally sent us sprawling ; but I soon got 
used to it, and became quite an adept at avoid- 
ing obstacles. The rain unfortunately fell just 
as we began to descend, and I reached the ship 
wet to the skin. 

So much for an Alaska mountain. May I be 



204 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

pardoned for not attempting another, for a 
Swiss Alp is pleasure compared to the toil of 
even one of these : to be sure, those in Switz- 
erland are more dangerous. 

After inspecting the process of canning 
salmon, from the time when they are freshly 
landed from the net, to when they are her- 
metically sealed in tins, and boiled ready for 
shipment, we cast off, turned our bow south- 
ward, and began our return trip. 

Passing down Lynn Channel, we had on our 
left the colossal '' Eagle Glacier," which is laid 
down upon the government chart as '' fully 
twelve hundred feet high." 

In the early morning of the 30th of July we 
entered Takou Inlet, which the captain kindly 
went far out of his way to show us. Here 
are two immense glaciers not far apart. They 
looked like enormous rivers, whose waters were 
piled up as in a freshet, congealed into solid 
ice, and rising several hundred feet above our 
heads, and running back, as we were assured, 
some forty miles. The bay was filled with 
more than a thousand icebergs, making the 
navigation dangerous, and requiring the steamer 
to move slowly and cautiously. 

Here, for the first time, we saw how icebergs, 
are formed. The great ice-river is in perpetual 
flow towards the inlet, but imperceptibly to the. 



ALASKA. 



205 



sight. As It protrudes over the water, the ice 
spHts off in every imaginable size and form : 
some of it breaks into small fragments, and a 
part floats off in huge ice-cliffs on their slow 
way to the ocean. The varied beauty of their 
colors is inconceivably charming. Some of 
them are of uniform deep azure ; but more are 
of purest white, striped in their fretwork with 
silver and the most delicate cerulean blue : their 
shapes assume every fantastic appearance, from 
a camel to a cathedral, from a ship to a fairy 
palace, and a mountain peak of snow. 

I took delight in taking passing shots at some 
of the more slender tapering minarets of Ice, 
and seeing them reel and come shivering down 
the side. 

Seals timidly came up occasionally, and sus- 
piciously stared at us In wonderment, and then 
dived under. 

Here I could but inwardly exclaim, that any 
American who wished to sail over the deep and 
waveless sea, where no sickness from the mo- 
tion could ever disturb him, where the air was 
pure and bracing, and the appetite voracious, 
where the glaciers and the mountains and the 
lake scenes surpass any thing In Switzerland, 
and where the midnight sun can be seen at a 
higher latitude than in Norway, should come 
to Alaska. 



206 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

As we moved nearer the north shore, I wa^ 
startled from my revery by the leadsman's cry, 
" Four fathoms bottom ! " Instantly reversing 
our engines, we stopped just in time, the screw 
stirring up the mud as we turned. 

After leaving this wonderful inlet, we ap- 
proached Juneau, the great mining-camp of 
Alaska. Juneau is also known as Harrlsburg 
of late. Even as we touched the wharf, we 
noticed something unusual in the scene, — no 
bustle, no merriment, no noise ; all quiet, men 
pale ; even the men who helped tie up refrained 
from the usual profane small-talk generally 
adopted on those occasions. A few Indians of 
both sexes squatted here and there, surly, 
gloomy, and lowering in aspect. As our eyes 
wandered along the shore, searching for a 
cause, there, standing out plainly defined against 
the dark background, we saw a newly erected 
gallows under which an Indian's body slowly 
swayed to and fro. 

Col. Barry, officer of the port, and Mr. 
Koehler, manager of the North-west Trading- 
store, placed us in possession of the general 
facts which necessitated the execution of lynch- 
law. 

Dr. McLean, who was present, gave us the 
following details of the transactions which pre- 
ceded our arrival : — 



ALASKA. 207 

'' The principal mining-camp is at the basin, 
about a mile from the town. The two points 
are connected by a trail which is much fre- 
quented by whites and Indians. On the trail 
are two whiskey-houses, one kept by Richard 
Rennie, a native of Jersey Island, Eng. ; and 
the other, by a Frenchman named Martin. 
These saloons are ostensibly to furnish liquors 
to the miners, but in reality to the Indians. 

" About three weeks ago Rennie and Martin 
got drunk, and during the evening exchanged 
cabins by mistake ; i.e., Rennie going into 
Martin's cabin, and Martin taking possession 
of Rennie's cabin. 

'' During the night an Indian broke into 
Martin's cabin where Rennie was sleeping, and 
stole a bottle of whiskey. Rennie got up, and 
struck the Indian, who then ran away. Early 
next morning Martin went to the camp with a 
demijohn of whiskey, and, after giving the Indi- 
ans a drink, asked them to keep the demijohn 
for him. He then returned to his own cabin, 
and found Rennie there. Rennie told him 
about the Indian stealing the whiskey, and that 
he had chastised him. Martin told him he had 
no right to do that, as the whiskey was his 
[Martin's]. 

" Rennie then took a bung-starter, and went 
after the Indians at the camp. While on the 



208 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

way to the camp, he met two Indians, who as- 
saulted him with a club, breaking his skull. 
When found he was insensible, and remained 
in that condition for twenty-four hours, when he 
expired. From an autopsy made by me, it was 
clearly shown that he had been struck from 
behind with a heavy blunt Instrument, and the 
skull badly fractured. 

*'The two suspected Sitka Indians were ar- 
rested ; and they confessed to having knocked 
Rennle down, but accused Rennie of first strik- 
ing them. I examined the Indians, and found 
no mark except one several days old. The In- 
dians in their confession admitted that Martin 
and a Russian named Zackaloff were looking 
on at the time, but did not attempt to Interfere. 

"In arresting the two Indians, a third Sitka 
Indian resisted the arrest ; and all three were 
marched to jail, and Ironed, to await the arrival 
of the mail-steamer. Guards were placed at 
the jail both day and night. 

" One of the day guards, named Dennis, was 
very careless, and allowed the Indians to roam 
around the jail-building without having hand- 
cuffs on. During his temporary absence out- 
side the building, the Indians took a pistol out 
of the cupboard. On the return of the guard, 
and while he was looking^ out of the window, he 
was shot in the left hip ; the ball coming out 



ALASKA. 209 

near the floating rib on the right side. Dennis 
then fired his pistol several times, and alarmed 
the town. The Indians then ran to the camp, 
taking the pistol with them. 

"The first man to reach the jail was an old 
American soldier, named Major Givens ; and, as 
soon as he saw the condition of Dennis, he 
rushed down the hill, and found the Indians in 
a house, trying to get the shackles off with an 
axe. He forced open the door, when he was 
shot through the right lung, and fell to the 
ground. Another Indian took the axe, and cut 
his head and face in a terrible manner. Two 
of the Indians then put for the woods, the one 
shackled remaining in the house. 

" One of the retreating Indians was shot 
dead by some infuriate citizens, and the other 
got away. The one remaining in the house 
was arrested, tried by a jury of citizens, found 
guilty, and hung this morning as you were 
entering the harbor." 

The corpse was soon cut down. As we 
stood on the deck, a little funeral-procession 
wound up the hill, carrying the body of Major 
Givens, whom the Indians had murdered. A 
mournful sight it was, to see a funeral in this 
far-away land, the sadnes*s and dreariness being 
heightened by the dull gray sky, drizzling rain, 
and discordant tolling of the little church-bell. 



2IO FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

Slowly the procession passed out of sight, and 
soon was lost behind the great crags. 

Father and I entered the house where they 
were mourning over the body of the young 
Indian who had been hung that morning. All 
the women were wailing and weeping, while 
the sister of the dead man fixedly gazed on her 
brother's body laid out in white ; the long sheet 
being pulled up close round his neck to hide 
the scar of the rope, and a pink silk handker- 
chief covering his head. On uncovering, the 
face seemed peaceful, the only expression of 
pain being the tight compression of the lips. 
The scene was full of sorrow ; and^ I shall not 
soon forget the sad, wan look of that sister 
keeping vigil at the head of the dead. 

Passing on, we glanced at the room where 
the guard Dennis lay dying ; and we were both 
right glad to leave this scene of lamentation, 
and return to the ship. 

Finding we could not sail for three hours, I 
went again to the North-west Store, where 
Mr. Koehler gave me a pretty specimen of 
Indian basket-work. 

Mr. Spuhn had the day before presented to 
my father an enchanter's mantle, lavishly woven 
by hand, curiously w?ought in devices ; each 
sign or mark representing some monster or 
spirit which the sorcerer's power was supposed 
to conjure up. 



ALASKA. 2 I r 

While we were watching the Indians making 
their crafty bargains, — exchanging their Httle 
heaps of gold-dust or hides, for cotton and 
wool goods, trinkets, ribbons, tobacco, or pow- 
der, — suddenly there arose cries and yells of 
" Indians are coming ! " Hurried mysterious 
mutterings were heard from the red men, and 
as if by magic the store was empty. Drawing 
my revolver, I rushed out ; and from every di- 
rection the miners were coming, each little log 
hut yielding up its owner armed with an old 
Hudson - bay gun or Winchester. In a few 
moments all the men who possessed guns were 
mustered in. the little open street, numbering 
all told some twenty-six ; while others who pos- 
sessed revolvers also joined in with the rest. 
On the side of the hill towards the mining-camp 
we could see a mass of men advancing in strag- 
gling lines, and from the numbers we concluded 
that the fight would be a bloody one. 

The camp happened just then to be short of 
ammunition, and for the Hudson-bay guns only 
sixty rounds remained : bayonets had been 
served out with the rifles, which when at close 
quarters would probably prove useful. The 
hostile band were supposed to be the Sitka 
tribe coming to avenge the death of their two^ 
members, and as they drew near the flash of 
guns could distinctly be seen. Knowing that 



■212 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

the trading-store would probably be the great- 
est resort for plunder, we began to barricade ; 
and rushing up-stairs, I secured an old Win- 
chester with twenty-four rounds. This, added 
to the six bullets in my revolver, was all we 
three possessed ; but, as the staircase was very 
narrow, we made up our minds to shoot from 
the window until the barricades had been 
forced, and then fight on the staircase until 
help arrived, either from the ship half a mile 
off, or from those who would fight, guerrilla- 
like, from behind the huts. 

Just as we were expecting to hear the ping 
of a bullet, an Indian came forward, and ex- 
plained that they had captured the third 
murderer, and were bringing him to justice. 
Instead of being hostile to us, they were 
friendly, and at enmity with the Sitkas. 

A great load of anxiety was lifted from all, 
although I confess that the prospect of an In- 
dian fight had been exhilarating. 

And now came out those traits which stig- 
matize lynch-law so forcibly. " Run him out ! " 
" Let's have a shot at him ! " and other such 
exclamations, seemed for an instant to be 
gaining favor. But finally soberer sentiments 
prevailed ; and he was taken off to the meeting- 
house, while several went down to the ship to 
prevail on my father to come up and see if he 



ALASKA. 213 

could not prevent an execution in mad haste, 
without proper investigation. Father, the cap- 
tain, and I then hurried up to the scene ; not a 
moment too soon, for already the Indian had 
been adjudged guilty, and the procession to 
the scaffold was on its way with the prisoner. 

My father interrupted the march, and de- 
manded an interview with the leader of the 
band of armed men. The leader, a resolute 
man with an honest face, came forward ; and 
my father told him that he had interrupted the 
execution lest the miners should do a rash 
act, under excitement, which they might for- 
ever regret, and claimed to know upon what 
evidence they were about to take a human life. 

The man replied that this Indian had killed 
Major Givens with an axe while in the perform- 
ance of his duty. 

''Who saw him strike Major Givens with the 
axe ? " said my father. 

"The doctor," was the reply. 

" Where Is the doctor ? " 

" He has gone to the camp to attend a 
person." 

*' Who else saw the blow struck ? " 

'' The chief," was the reply. 

*• Where is the chief?" 

" There," pointing to an Indian not far away. 

"' Bring him here with an interpreter," said 



214 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

my father, who then carefully examined him ; 
and the chief admitted all that was charged 
against the prisoner, and said that he saw the 
blow struck which, killed Major Givens. Other 
witnesses testified to the same. 

Mr. Fuller (I think that was the leader's 
name) then said, " We have no court, no judge, 
no marshal, here. The government gives us 
no protection, and we are obliged to protect 
ourselves. We are daily exposed on our way 
to and return from the mining-camp ; and we 
must punish the murderers of our comrades, or 
be ourselves murdered." He seemed a sober, 
serious, brave man, and said he was from Mas- 
sachusetts. 

Then the white men who were armed with 
rifles, about twenty-seven in all, formed around 
the gallows to prevent a rescue by the hostile 
Indians who were near. 

The prisoner mounted the scaffold with un- 
daunted air, and stood under the cross-beam 
from which hung the fatal rope. His hands 
were tied, and the noose placed around his 
neck. He repeated the Lord's Prayer in pretty 
good English. It seemed a strange coincidence, 
that the three murderers were all Christians, 
converted by the faithful missionaries, as we 
were told. After saying, " Good-by Indians, 
good-by white men," a red silk handkerchief,, 



ALASKA. 2 1 5 

presented by an Indian woman, was passed up 
on the point of a bayonet, and tied over his 
eyes. 

A long rope ran from the stud which sup- 
ported the plank upon which the Indian stood ; 
and the leader of the band of miners, amid the 
most impressive silence, said in a loud, clear 
voice of stern command, '' Let every miner in 
this camp bear a hand to the rope, and take his 
share In the responsibilities of this hour ! " 

The order was obeyed. A jerk of the rope 
— t<iie plank fell, and the murderer's neck was 
Instantly broken by his fall. 

We moved away In silence, and went sadly 
back to the steamer ; and, as we left this place 
of violence and lawless death, we felt that our 
government had neglected Its duty in failing 
to organize a Christian rule over this wild ter- 
ritory which we had purchased. 

As we slowly steamed away in the dusky 
afternoon, we looked back from the deck ; and 
on the gallows of new wood, standing out 
against the dark background, we saw the 
swinging body of the dead, and heard only 
the lapping of the wavelets on the beach, 
and the requiem-dirge of the moaning winds 
along the mountains. 

July 31. — On our way back to Fort Wran- 
gell, where we intended to take the mails on 



2l6 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

board, we went outside, and experienced quite a 
swell. Passing through a channel, we touched 
bottom : the ship reeled, but recovered herself, 
the speed of eleven knots carrying her over 
the shoal in safety. There was no sign on the 
chart accounting for it. 

At Wrangell we took on board an interesting 
fur-trader, named Sylvester, on his way to Vic- 
toria, where he hoped to dispose of his annual 
supply of two thousand pelts. 

Atig. I . — About noon we changed salutes 
with the English man-of-war the " Mutine," on 
its way to Sitka, having Admiral and Mrs» 
Lyons on board. 

Aug, 2. — Weather not quite so propitious. 
Somewhat rough on Queen Charlotte's Sound. 
Mr. Sylvester, the fur- trader, on my father's 
remarking that the scenery we were just then 
passing was very grand, replied, " Yes ; but 1 
guess I'd rather see a haycock." 

Mr. Sylvester was bred in Maine, and had 
long been an express-carrier in Washington 
Territory, and slept night after night on the 
snow upon evergreen boughs, and endured 
countless dangers from wild beasts and wild 
men, and was rather tired of mountain scenery. 
Parting with the fur-trader, he presented to mc: 
a fine specimen of red-fox skin. 



ALASKA. 2 1 7 



CHAPTER XX. 

CLIMATE. — SOIL. — PRODUCTS OF ALASKA. — BACK 
TO VICTORIA. 

We reached Victoria, on our return voyage, 
the 4th of August. Capt. Carroll courteously 
took us from Nanaimo In the steamer "Idaho," 
and thus facilitated our homeward journey. At 
Nanaimo we parted with the steamer " Eureka," 
in which we had passed so many Interesting 
and happy days. To Capt. Hunter, from whom 
w^e received every possible kindness and deli- 
cate attention, we are deeply indebted. A more 
watchful and careful officer never commanded 
a ship In the dangerous and almost unknown 
waters of Alaska. I gave him my revolver at 
parting, and hope that any of my friends who 
hereafter visit that far-off country may sail 
under the care of Capt. Hunter. 

The second engineer presented me with a 
huge walrus-tusk, of solid ivory, which I much 
value. The first engineer was a man of rare 
intelligence. 

In a country so vast in extent as Alaska,. 



2l8 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

there Is great diversity of climate, soil, and 
temperature. The south line of the mainland 
Is 54° 40' north latitude, and the north cape of 
the territory runs into the Polar Sea, 71° 13', — 
beyond the farthest land of Norway. No one 
has need to cross the Atlantic to reach a land 
of the '' midnight sun." 

The climate of the Aleutian Islands Is tem- 
pered by the Pacific Ocean, and the Japan 
currents modify the cold In many parts of 
Alaska. At Sitka (lat. 57° 3') the mean tem- 
perature is 44° Fahrenheit. The climate of 
Southern Alaska Is about the same as that 
of Kentucky. 

The Alaskan range contains the highest 
peaks in the United States, — Mount St. Ellas 
19,500 feet, Mount Cook 16,000, Mount Cril- 
lon 15,900, Mount Fairweather 15,500. These 
measurements from the government surveys 
are supposed to be thoroughly reliable. And 
the Yukon River is one of the largest In the 
world. 

At Fort Wrangell, Sitka, and many other 
places, we saw the Kentucky blue-grass, red- 
top, white clover, timothy, and other grasses 
of rankest growth. We saw currants, cranber- 
ries, raspberries, dewberries, and salmonberries 
in large abundance. The salmonberries were 
like the blackberry in form and size, but of a 



ALASKA. 



219 



bright salmon-color. We purchased a quan- 
tity of the various berries from the squaws for 
a trifle, but found them all watery and destitute 
of any richness of flavor ; and even after we 
had them made into a pie at the steamer, we 
could not eat them with any relish. Potatoes 
grow well ; but in South-eastern Alaska there 
is but little arable land, and such a thing as a 
plough we did not see, and no evidence that 
one had ever been there. 

We passed marble mountains much larger 
than those of Carrara. 

The wealth of Alaska is chiefly in its furs, 
timber, mines, and fisheries, which latter are far 
beyond any thing on the globe. The chain of 
Pacific islands, which run almost to Asia, are 
said to be excellent for raising cattle. 

The valuable timber of Alaska is inexhaust- 
ible. The red and yellow fir abound ; and the 
Alaska cedar, of a bright amber yellow, capa- 
ble of a very high polish, beautiful to the eye 
and exceedingly fragrant, is one of the most 
useful of woods. 

A report upon " Ship-building on the Pacific 
Coast," made to the Board of Marine Under- 
writers of San Francisco in 1867, by the sur- 
veyor of the Board, says, — 

" The yellow cedar is undoubtedly the most valu- 
able of all our trees for ship-building. It is found in 



220 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

great quantities at Coos Bay, thence along the coast 
of Oregon to Port Orford ; also on the islands and 
mainland of Alaska. The Indians of Alaska have 
for ages used its trunk for their canoes. A vessel 
built of it at Sitka thirty years ago was recently 
examined, five years after she was wrecked, by the 
officers of the revenue steamer ' Lincoln.' The 
timbers appeared as sound and perfect as on the day 
she was launched. This cedar is much finer-grained, 
handsomer, more dense, and a better timber in all 
respects, than any other cedar known. It grows to 
a height of one hundred and seventy-five feet, with 
a diameter of four feet. It is probably the finest 
material for docks in the world. At Coos Bay, Mn 
A. M. Simpson informs us, there are inexhaustible 
quantities of this cedar, which has been used to some 
extent in the construction of the bark ' Melancthon.' 
After fifteen years' use in the frame of his saw-mill, 
it shows no signs of decay. Mr. Simpson expresses 
the confident opinion, that heart cedar, cut from the 
lower part of this tree, will outlast teak in any part 
of a ship's frame." 

When a government shall have been estab- 
lished over Alaska, under which civilized men 
•can be protected in their rights, the resources 
will rapidly develop, and Alaska will become 
one of the richest jewels in the crown of our 
empire, and bring to Mr. Seward all the renown 
which he anticipated, and cause lasting vexation 
to our people that James Buchanan did not 
insist upon 54° \d as our northern boundary. 



ALASKA. 221 

Returning from Alaska, we stopped again at 
Victoria, and there met a sea-captain who had 
formerly commanded a vessel sailing between 
San Francisco and China. He pointed out the 
superior advantages which Great Britain will 
have in commerce with the Orient so soon as 
the Canada Pacific Railway reaches Port Moody 
on the Pacific waters which separate Vancou- 
ver's Island from the mainland. He said, — 

" The route for steamers from San Francisco to 
Japan and China is up the Pacific coast as far as 
the north end of Vancouver's Island, and thence 
westward, in order to avail of the short degrees of 
longitude. The northing thus made is nearly nine 
hundred miles. Vessels coming to our coast from 
Asia make the entrance into Puget Sound from 
three to seven days before they get off the Gate into 
San Francisco Bay." 

Maury, whose authority will not be ques- 
tioned, writes : — 

"The trade-winds place Vancouver's Island on 
the wayside of the road from China and Japan to 
San Francisco so completely that a trading-vessel 
under canvas to the latter place would take the same 
route as if she were bound for Vancouver's Island. 
So that all return cargoes would naturally come 
there, in order to save two or three weeks, besides 
risk and expense." 

The temperature of this island is nearly that 



222 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

of Virginia ; and Victoria, which Is in latitude 
48° 252' (Paris being in latitude 48° 50'), Is 
quite as mild as the city of New York. 

A few years ago it was " proved " that Can- 
ada could not build a railroad to the Pacific, 
just as Dr. Lardner " demonstrated " that steam- 
ships could never navigate the ocean with suc- 
cess. But the day is near when the Canada 
railway will bring passengers from Quebec to 
Port Moody, and when British ships will take 
away our chiefest trade with the two great 
empires across the Pacific. Then will the 
American people begin to realize the stupen- 
dous folly of the Buchanan-Pakenham treaty 
of 1846, by which we gave away an empire, 
and perilled the richest commerce of the world. 



FROM VICTORIA TO PORTLAND. 22^ 



CHAPTER XXI. 

BACK TO VICTORIA. — FROM VICTORIA TO PORT- 
LAND.— THE FOREST FIRES. 

On the 6th of August we left Victoria, on 
our way back through the beautiful waters of 
Puget Sound. 

In the evening we reached Tacoma, where 
at the hotel we saw a little black-bear cub, lately 
caught, only five months old, have a fight with 
a large pointer ; and, contrary to my expecta- 
tions, the dog turned tail. 

The next day we reached Portland at 5.30 
P.M., where we were delighted by the comfort- 
able house and hospitable kindness of Mr. and 
Mrs. Schultze. Smoke from the forest fires 
still overhangs the city. 



224 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

FROM PORTLAND ALONG THE COLUMBIA RIVER. 
— THE CASCADES. — THE DALLES. — THE CLIFFS.— 
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROAD TO BOZEMAN. 

On Thursday, Aug. 9, we left Portland by 
the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company 
line, in company with Mr. Paul Schultze, for the 
Yellowstone Park by the way of the Northern 
Pacific road. 

Wallula, where the Oregon Railway and 
Navigation Company's road joins the Northern 
Pacific, is three hundred and fourteen miles 
from Portland. The road runs along the south- 
ern bank of the great Columbia River, through 
some of the grandest scenery of the globe. 
The mountains look like towers, fortresses, 
cathedrals, made by giant hands, — weird, fan- 
tastic structures, resembling Dore's baseless 
castles. These begin about forty-two miles 
from Portland. 

The cascades are a few miles farther on ; and 
the rapids, called the Dalles, are some forty 
miles east of the cascades. Here the shores 



ALONG THE COLUMBIA RIVER. 225 

of the great river are treeless and barren ; and 
the banks are heaped with fine sea-sand Hke 
the ocean, and present a very singular appear- 
ance. 

The difference between high and low water 
caused by the freshets at the Dalles is eighty 
feet. Here the vast river, which in many places 
near its mouth is more than five miles wide, 
rushes through a gorge only one hundred and 
twenty feet in width, while the depth is enor- 
mous. 

We pass the salmon-wheels and Chinese 
camps of the road-workers. At the Dalles, 
Indians were catching salmon by dipping them 
out with hand-nets. 

Now we are passing through miles of scoriae, 
a black volcanic composition, and not a single 
tree in sight. 

The engineer told me that the hewn ties 
lasted much longer than the sawn ones, as the 
jarring of the wood fibres of the hewn was less. 

Along the Snake River were fine lands. 
Went through Flathead reservations. 

Passing through Idaho and Montana, we met 
forest fires on all sides. Crossed over the 
highest trestle-bridge in America, two hundred 
and twenty-six feet, and I believe the highest 
in the world next to the noted Freibourg bridge. 

All along the road we found a company of 



226 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

United-States troops encamped, who had been 
called in to quell a slight rising of the Indians, 
who had robbed a man. 

Seeing a new grave with a crutch planted 
over it in place of a tombstone, inquired the 
cause, and found that a lame man who had re- 
peatedly robbed the Wells Fargo coach was 
finally captured and lynched ; and this was 
placed over to mark the spot where Lame Joe 
met his death. 

At Ainsworth, fourteen miles above Wallula, 
the great Snake River enters the Columbia. 
There the railroad leaves the river, and runs 
north-east to the Spokane Falls, which are 374 
miles from Portland ; thence to Clark's Fork of 
the Columbia, 471 miles from Portland, to Lake 
Pend d'Oreille ; thence along Clark's Fork 
south-east to Missoula, from Portland 633 
miles, which we reached Aug. 10, in the after- 
noon, where we remained all night in the cars. 

We went to the hotel for supper, and there 
took breakfast the next morning. 

We found at the hotel a peculiar style of 
conversation, as we waited for supper on the 
piazza of the house. A good many were 
standing around, waiting for the meal, who 
seemed to be residents. One comes up to 
another, and says, — 

'' What do you know ? " 



ALONG THE COLUMBIA RIVER. 22/ 

The one addressed replies, *' Know that you 
are a damned fool," which is taken in good- 
nature. 

After supper one comes out of the dining- 
room, picking his teeth with his fingers, and 
another says to him, — 

" Been filling up, hain't you ? What did you 
git?" 

" Fried grubs," was the reply. 

** Any rotten eggs ? " says the other. 

'' Yes, and a dead chicken," was the retort. 

''Wouldn't eat a live one, would you?" was 
the rejoinder. 

The road being unfinished, at this point we 
took carriages, and began our sixty-five-mile 
drive over the rolling country of Montana. At 
Hawk's Ranch we changed horses, and contin- 
ued our journey to Kean's. 

Our driver was totally ignorant of the way ; 
which, added to the startling news that a stage- 
robbery had occurred on this same road but a 
week before, quite kept us alive to the beauty 
and novelty of the situation. Mr. Schultze's 
endeavor to make the drive of ninety-five miles 
in a day and a half instead of two days and a 
half, by making a short cut, placed the driver 
in the predicament of handling four horses 
over ground with which he was totally unfamil- 
iar. Wading rivers, ploughing our way through 



228 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

bogs, crossing the unfinished track many times, 
compelled us, in order to avoid an upset, to 
attach a rope to the top of the coach, and 
required all to hold on while going down a 
bad grade ; I generally also standing on the 
brake. The brake finally broke, and it had 
to be mended with ropes. At last we saw 
through the darkness some twinkling lights, 
which proved to be from the camp-fires of the 
track-workers, one of whom kindly guided us 
until we reached Kean's, an eating-house where 
the stages going the regular route usually halt 
for lunch. The little tavern was full ; and we 
slept on the floor, there being but one bed, 
and that was given to my father. 

In the early morning the landlord came into 
the room, and asked us for '' bitters," which 
meant whiskey. Mr. Moore, a fellow-traveller, 
had a flask, and supplied the pressing wants of 
our host. 

At eight A.M. we started to go across the 
'' Rockies," a distance of some thirty miles, to 
Helena, the capital of Montana. Fearful roads, 
rocks, jolts, bogs, ruts, upheavals, and crashes 
of every thing ; to say nothing of one hill," the 
descent of which was actually so steep that we 
all had to get off in order to lessen the mo- 
mentum. We saw on this day's drive no game, 
and but few birds. Soil seemed poorer east of 
the Rockies than west. 



ALONG THE COLUMBIA RIVER. 229 

On the morning of the 7th the mine was 
sprung which broke apart the remaining parti- 
tion of earth and clay and rock, one hundred 
and twelve feet thick, in the famed Mullen 
Tunnel. The Atlantic and Pacific met, and the 
workers from the East hailed their Western 
friends. This reminded me of the St. Gothard 
tunnel, which so closely binds France, Switzer- 
land, and Italy, making a direct communication. 

We reached Helena on Sunday, the 12th of 
August, at mid-day, and learned that the mail- 
coach had been stopped by robbers (or by road- 
agents, as the phrase is), and the mail and 
every passenger robbed. 

Helena is a great mining-town. To-day be- 
ing Sunday, all things are in uproar. Every 
other house on the main street is a gambling- 
house, saloon, or house of ill-fame. All places 
are open, and faro is at its height. In one den 
I saw a very exciting game of poker, the ** pile " 
in the centre of the table sometimes amounting 
to a thousand dollars. The saloons in full sway 
were rendered attractive and alluring in every 
conceivable manner ; resembling in this respect, 
though from a much lower standpoint, Hom- 
burg, Baden-Baden, and Welsbaden, in the by- 
gone days of the Golden Coursal or the present 
Monte Carlo. 

Returning up the main street later on, I 



230 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

witnessed a pretty good stand-up fight over 
some cards. 

I saw rather a curious way of covering the 
sale of whiskey under the garb of rehgion. 
Observino- a saloon from which numerous 

o 

miners were issuing, more or less in a state of 
inebriation, I entered, and found a large organ 
placed in one corner, and the miners fast get- 
ting drunk to the strains of '' Onward, Christian 
soldiers." 

We met Col. Saunders, leader of the old 
Montana Vigilants, who took us to the First 
National Bank, where we saw some large nug- 
gets of native gold, one assayed and stamped 
$420, another $250, also one at ^25; the last 
one shown weighing 47.70 ounces, being val- 
isied at $945. 



BOZEMAN. 231 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

BOZEMAN. 

Aug. 13. — Started by rail, at ^v^ a.m., for 
Bozeman. Met Mr. Eldridge on the train, 
engineer of the Northern Pacific Railroad for 
the Rocky-Mountain District. He was most 
kind in his attentions, and his care in helping 
us to arrange our outfit will always be remem- 
bered. 

Through a letter of Gen. Sherman to Major 
Gordon at Fort Ellis, we were provided with an 
ambulance and four mules, and an "A" tent, 
which, added to a light Studebaker escort- 
wagon for provisions, three ponies, and the 
other necessaries for a camping-tour, completed 
our outfit. A driver from the fort for the 
ambulance, a sergeant, my own man Murray for 
the escort- wagon, and Wyatt, an old hunter, 
who afterwards joined me with his three ponies, 
made up the party. 

On the way to Fort Ellis, we drove through 
thousands of gopher-holes. These little ani- 
mals, resembling rats with the addition of a 



2^2 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

bushy tail, sat on the edge of their subterranean 
passages, very much Hke the prairie-dog ; their 
movements when startled being marvellously 
quick. In Florida the gopher is a kind of land- 
turtle, the holes caused by them being much 
more dangerous for horses. 

Ladies' society was quite limited at the fort ; 
and yet those we found, like true Americans, 
made the best of every thing, and even at- 
tempted to speak cheerfully of the long, cold, 
dreary winters, which must be very tedious. 

The ladies, officers, Mr. Eldridge, and my 
father all went to hear Henry Ward Beecher 
lecture in the evening. His subject was "The 
Reign of the Common People." Men in every 
kind of dress, and women with crying babies 
in their arms, crowded to hear him ; and all 
were eager listeners except the babies, who 
were eager squallers. When Mr. Beecher at- 
tacked with sarcastic ridicule the old theology, 
he was loudly applauded. The stillness of the 
crowded room was frequently interrupted by 
great outbursts of yelling, proceeding from one 
or more animate objects held in the arms, called 
babies. The nightly revelry of cats was slight 
compared with the vociferous powers of these 
funny embryo specimens of humanity. Finally, 
as a mother rose to go out with her infant, Mr. 
Beecher paused, and, as the precious charge. 



BOZEMAN. 233 

was rapidly disappearing, remarked, ''There 
lies the basis for a future public speaker." 

Aug. 15. — Provisions, buffalo-robes, guns, 
fishing-rods, cooking-utensils, blankets, all be- 
ing packed, we bade good-by to Mr. Eldridge, 
exchanged farewells with our kind friends at 
Fort Ellis, and started. 

My little sorrel pony went grandly. I had 
put a double Mexican cinche on him, snaffle- 
bit, and single saddle-blanket, and began to feel 
that I had made a good purchase. He was a 
three-quarters-bred Oregon horse, and, though 
not quite broken, I felt his speed and endurance 
were good ; a look at his deep chest, small ears, 
slim, tapering limbs, and muscular shoulders, 
showing good running-blood. He was the only 
Western pony, among the dozens that I have 
ridden, which came up to my boyhood Ideal 
"wild mustang; " for, as a rule, for ugliness in 
shape, size, color, and temper, give me the 
bro7icho, though for roping cattle, endurance, 
and ability to stand exposure, they are un- 
equalled. 

To-day we travelled twenty-one miles, and 
pitched camp at Trail Creek In the pleasant 
society of Dr. Bushnell, his wife and baby, 
Mrs. Bushnell's sister, and Miss Bingham, all 
from Fort Ellis. 

Let me devote a line to the baby. I am not 



234 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

generally favorably disposed toward babies ; but 
to my certain knowledge, during the fourteen 
days that we camped out in the party, I can at 
present remember no instance of that child 
yelling, — a feat which I can safely dismiss with 
the refrain " Extraordinary ! " Whether this re- 
markable phenomenon arose from knowing 
when the exact moment had arrived for placing 
the rubber tube connecting with the well-known 
bottle between its lips, I am unable to judge ; 
but, be it as it may, that baby never bawled 
once, although this was its first experience in 
" roughing it." 

I unfortunately found to-day that my sorrel 
understood the art called "bucking." I had 
been warned, before starting, concerning this 
peculiarity, but never dreamed of its actually 
ever taking place. To those accustomed to 
their park nags or beatifully trained hunters, 
the " buck " is naturally unknown, as it is a vice 
peculiar to the western broncho or cayuse. If 
any of my readers can imagine the sensation 
of suddenly (when his thoughts are far away) 
feeling his horse curl its head and tail under its 
legs, bow its back, shoot up in the air like a 
catapult, and come down stiff-legged, let him 
condole with me. I had had it tried on me 
to some slight extent in California, but never 
in the "thoroughbred" manner. It is all well 



BOZEMAN. 235 

enough for the Mexican " buckquero riders," 
the professional Western horse-breakers, to say, 
*' Throw your feet forward, sit way back, and 
give yourself up to the recoil." I tried : the 
pony saved me all trouble in the way of giving 
up to the recoil, for at the fourth buck no 
dynamite ever sent up a corporeal body more 
swiftly than mine went from that saddle. Some- 
what dazed, I recaught the brute, got on, and 
for the rest of the day got off without his 
agency. 

Catching a few fish while the men built a 
fire, pitched a tent, ground the coffee, and 
baked the bread, we soon gathered round for 
supper ; and, after writing as long as the dying 
light would permit, we all turned in, and our 
first night's camp-life began in earnest. 

My three ponies broke their picket-ropes 
this morning, and were found by the driver, 
who gave chase on mule-back three miles to 
the northward. 

The nights grew cold very soon after sun- 
down, quite an extreme after the fierce heat of 
Monday. We made a thirty-five-mile drive 
to-day, and before sundown enjoyed some fair 
trout-fishing in the Yellowstone River. 

I was twice bucked off this afternoon ; the 
last time coming very near being killed, hurled 
as I was clear over the pony's head, and landing 



2^6 FROM FIFTH A VENUE TO ALASKA. 

a few inches from a huge bowlder. I found, on 
remounting, that the last jolt had quite disabled 
me, my hip and left shoulder being very lame ; 
so that after riding a little farther I was obliged 
to get into the ambulance. The next day I 
tried him once more : but, as he could not stand 
a gun on his back, we used him as a pack-horse 
for the rest of the trip ; and, during my hunt 
in the Hoodoo Mountains, I rode two well- 
broken old cayuses, which would stand any thing, 
from the firing of a gun to an avalanche. 

We saw a large number of hawks near the 
encampment, and at night the full moon 
brought out clearly several owls seeking for 
prey. 








10.-JOO 

Hoodoo Mtf. 



Saddle'Mt. 




YELLOWSTONE PARK. 237 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

YELLOWSTONE PARK. 

Aug, 17. — Hard day's drive, steep hills. 
Arrived at Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, which 
was still in a very unfinished state. Eatables 
of the house w^ere nearly all consumed, not 
enough allowance having been made for the 
large concourse of transient visitors. Senators 
Cameron, Logan, and Dawes were there, hav- 
ing just returned from a flying trip through the 
park. 

We were prevailed upon to sleep at the hotel 
instead of our tent, and were given a large 
room called the Tower Chamber, finding a bed 
quite a luxury after the hard ground. This 
hotel, which we reached in the afternoon of the 
17th, is at the north end of the Yellowstone 
Park. 

We camped out in the government enclo- 
sure, near the hotel, intending to start the next 
morning for the tour of the park. 

We had ten horses in camp, but the next 
morning my fine saddle-horse was gone. We 



NO. 4. 




2 $8 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

supposed that he had been stolen. Search was 
made by three of our men in every direction, 
but without success. Towards evening I was 
told by Mr. Hobart of the hotel that he thought 
we had been " cashed ; " that meant, as he told 
us, that the horse had been secreted for the 
purpose of theft or reward. A German at the 
hotel told my father that he thought the horse 
could be found. My father replied, '' Bring 
me the horse before dark, and I will give you 
ten dollars." The man mounted a mustang, 
and in thirty minutes the horse was delivered. 
We had no more trouble about our horses; 
but towards the end of the season horse-thieves 
made a raid upon the park, and several tourists 
had their horses stolen when far away from any 
assistance, and suffered much in consequence. 
These difficulties will cease, under the good 
management of the Park Improvement Com- 
pany, by another season. 

THE YELLOWSTONE PARK. 

This land of natural wonders lies in the 
Rocky Mountains, at the north-west corner of 
Wyoming, embracing a narrow strip of Idaho 
and Montana on the west, and a small portion 
from the territory of Montana on the north. 
Its boundaries are rectangular, and by the Act 
of Congress passed in 1872 are thus defined : — 



YELLOWSTONE PARK. 239 

'^ Commencing at the junction of Gardiner River 
with the Yellowstone River, and running east to 
the meridian passing ten miles to the eastward of 
the most eastern point of Yellowstone Lake ; thence 
south along the said meridian to the parallel of lati- 
tude passing ten miles south of the most southern 
point of Yellowstone Lake ; thence west along said 
parallel to the meridian passing fifteen miles west of 
the most western point of Madison Lake ; thence 
north along said meridian to the latitude of the junc- 
tion of the Yellowstone and Gardiner Rivers ; thence 
east to the place of beginning." 

Since no accurate survey has yet been made, 
neither the exact size, nor the latitude or 
longitude, is known. It is supposed to be at 
least sixty-five miles from north to south, and 
fifty-five miles from east to west ; but the super- 
intendent told us that he was quite sure that 
this was an under-estimate. The south line is 
believed to be about 44° north latitude, and the 
east line about 1 10° west longitude. New- York 
City is 40° \2 north latitude, and 74° west 
longitude. 

It is worthy of note, that the Yellowstone 
Lake itself is at an elevation of 7,780 feet, and 
that the park contains two mountains each 
near eleven thousand feet, and three more are 
each about ten thousand feet, besides twenty- 
five others which are quite high. Many of 
these mountains bear personal names : thus 



240 FROM FIFTH A VENUE TO ALASKA. 

Mount Washburn was named after Gen. Wash- 
burn ; Dunraven, after Lord Dunraven ; Mount 
Everts, after Mr. Everts, a member of a party 
under the leadership of Gen. Washburn in 
1870, formed to explore the Yellowstone River. 
While near the head of the lake, Mr. Everts be- 
came lost ; and, suffering untold hardships from 
hunger and cold, he became insane, and was 
found wandering near the Mammoth Springs. 

So early as the expedition of Lewis and 
Clark across the continent in 1803 or 1804, a 
trapper named Colter, who accompanied that 
celebrated exploration, having left the company, 
was captured by Blackfeet Indians, from whom 
he escaped. In his wanderings he saw the 
boiling springs and some of the geysers ; and 
as early as 18 10 he was in Missouri, relating 
marvellous tales of lakes burning with brim- 
stone, of pits of fire, and spouting hot water. 
His stories were treated as the inventions of a 
brain driven to lunacy by suffering ; but a party 
under Capt. Lacy visited the Lower Geyser 
Basin in 1863, and gave the first credited infor- 
mation of its marvels. In 1871 Professor Hay- 
den made an extended tour through this region, 
and in 1872 presented a proposition to Con- 
gress to reserve a section of the territory as a 
national park. 



YELLOWSTONE PARK. 24 1 

DISTANCES. 

I found It difficult to obtain trustworthy in- 
formation as to distances in the park. Be- 
tween the same points, one driver, famiHar with 
the road, would give the distance as thirty 
miles, while another equally well acquainted 
would call the distance forty-five miles ; and 
not infrequently, the nearer we drew towards 
our point of destination, the greater the dis- 
tance would be, according to the information 
given by those we met. I attribute this partly 
to the execrable condition of the roads. I give 
the distances from the most reliable sources 
within my reach : they will be found proximately 
correct. 

The great Northern Pacific road runs parallel 
with the north line of the park, fifty-eight 
miles distant. A branch of that road runs from 
Livingston, fifty-six miles, to within two miles 
of the park ; whence stages carry passengers 
six miles to the National Mammoth Springs 
Hotel, which is four miles south of the north 
line of the park. 

From Livingston the road runs south along 
the valley of the Yellowstone, through mountain 
scenery, and canons of the river, magnificent 
and wild. 

At the north line of the park, where the 



242 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

Gardiner River enters the Yellowstone, the 
course of the Gardiner is from south to north. 
The Yellowstone, rising in the Yellowstone 
Lake near the south side of the park, runs 
with many windings northerly until near Liv- 
ingston, when it turns east. Through its valley 
the Northern Pacific is for many miles built. 

Entering the park from the north, the first 
thing which surprises the visitor on reaching 
the National Hotel is the great terrace of 

THE MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS. 

The terrace rises a thousand feet above the 
Gardiner River, which runs near, and two hun- 
dred feet above the plateau of the valley in 
which it is built by the ceaseless flow of the 
hot springs, which leave a calcareous deposit. 
This deposit covers an area of three square 
miles, and the recent deposits on which the hot 
springs are now boiling occupy about a hun- 
dred and seventy acres. Terrace after terrace, 
mostly white as chalk, composed chiefly of lime, 
soda, silica, and magnesia, rise from the level 
upon which the great hotel stands, to the height 
of two hundred feet. 

Considering the superb mountain views seen 
from this place, taken in connection with the 
strange appearances of the cones and terraces 
constructed by the flow of the smoking springs, 



YELLOWSTONE PARK. 243, 

there is no one place in the park more interest- 
ing and wonderful than the Mammoth Springs. 
They are seldom seen as they ought to be. 
When people arrive here, they are tired ; and 
when they return from the tour of the park, 
they are more tired. The great boiling springs 
on the terraces can be seen only through a 
somewhat difficult walk, as no horse can pass 
over them. Their vastness and variety cannot 
be appreciated at all without walking over and 
around them. 

The wonderful formations are in strange ar- 
tistic shapes, made by magnesia, soda, lime, sul- 
phur, and probably silica, held in solution by 
the hot water, which, flowing over, slowly hard- 
ens much as water congeals when passing over 
a surface in an atmosphere below the freezing 
point. Indeed, no one can walk around any 
of the geysers or hot springs in the park with- 
out being reminded of ice-formations which he 
has seen at waterfalls in winter. 

The bewildering views from the hills, the 
canons of the Gardiner River, — appearing to 
be only a few rods from the hotel, but when 
reached are found to be nearly two miles away, 
and the return seems more than two miles ; the 
boiling springs by the river-side in which the 
fishermen boil trout on the hook, which they 
have caught in the cold stream within reach ; 



244 FROM FIFTH A VENUE TO ALASKA. 

the deep caves on the hotel plateau, left en^ 
tirely open (about which I heard an Irishman, 
last Sunday, mournfully say to his companion, 
" What a shame that these holes are not cov- 
ered up ! A man cannot get tight without 
falling in, and that would be the last of him ; " 
and he reeled indignantly away) , — these all 
combined gave this section of the park many 
varied attractions. 

To make a tour of the park as it should be 
made, and return to the hotel at the Hot 
Springs, requires a journey of two hundred 
miles, over the roughest, hilliest, steepest, stoni- 
est, stumpiest, joltiest, dustiest roads that 
wheels drawn by horses ever passed ; many 
parts of the roads being built of round logs, 
which give variety to the violence of jolting. 

Except for the Grand Hotel at the Hot 
Springs, there are no hotels in the park, unless 
the small building near the Firehole River, 
called " Marshall's," can be called a hotel. 
There are tents stationed In various places 
where tourists are supposed to be able to sleep 
(but they tell me that they can't). 

Three persons, making a tour of the park, 
need a covered wagon with driver and four 
mules, an escort-wagon with driver and two 
horses, an extra horse and saddle, and a third 
man to cook, and aid in pitching and striking 



YELLOWSTONE PARK. 



245 



the tents. As all the bedding, food, and cook- 
ing-utensils must be carried along, the loads 
are heavy ; and the roads are such that you 
cannot drive many miles in a day, and ten days 
are needed for the trip. Of course this is ex- 
pensive ; but it is the only way, at present, to 
see the park with any satisfaction. To see it 
with any degree of comfort, in the present state 
of the roads, is impossible, unless you ride on 
horseback in a hot sun, and have an escort of 
many pack-mules ; but it is worth seeing at 
almost any cost or discomfort. 

I made the tour on horseback, and rather 
enjoyed it. But my father and companions 
were in a government-wagon ; and the com- 
plaints of each and all who were driven in any 
kind of vehicle were universal. The excessive 
alkaline dust, so irritating to the eyes and 
throat, and parching to the lips and face, was 
exceedingly uncomfortable ; and tenting out is, 
at best, a nuisance. The sun was intensely 
hot, and the atmosphere as arid as an African 
desert. So soon as the sun sets, it grows cool ; 
and nearly every night the water in the buckets 
at the door of our tents was frozen from an 
eighth to a quarter of an inch in thickness. 

Next year, I dare say, there will be large im- 
provements. Mr. Rufus Hatch of New York, 
president of the Park Improvement Company, 



246 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA, 

has excellent plans, which he will be likely to 
carry out, and which if carried out will make a 
visit to the park more easy and agreeable. 
Mr. Hatch has been at the park this season, in 
charge of a party of some eighty persons of 
different sexes, ages, nations, and tongues ; and 
his consummate tact and quiet diplomacy have 
kept them all in apparent good-humor. We 
are greatly indebted to Mr. Hatch for many 
valuable courtesies. 

This reservation is called a '' park," which 
conveys the idea of a pleasure-ground, and no 
railroad is permitted within it ; but it is a wild 
region of lofty mountains, dense forests, large 
lakes and rivers, with falls both grand and beau- 
tiful, besides canons of vast depth, innumer- 
able geysers, and boiling pools of wondrous 
size and startling power, and these spread over 
an area larger than that of the States of Rhode 
Island and Delaware combined. It is safe to 
say, that, of the thousands who have visited 
this amazing region, not one can be found who 
will not say that a railroad in the park is a 
necessity, and that, the sooner it is permitted, 
the sooner will the object be attained for which 
the government set apart this domain. It is 
impossible to construct a comfortable carriage- 
road through the park, upon any appropriations 
which the government will make. The uneven- 



YELLOWSTONE PARK. 



247 



ness of the country, and the thick pine and 
spruce forests, render the construction of roads 
very expensive ; and the pecuHarity of the soil 
and cHmate forbid the construction of any ex- 
cellent carriage-road at any reasonable cost. 

The soil is generally a fine calcareous alka- 
line powder, of geyser formation, light as cal- 
cined magnesia. During July, August, and 
September, it scarcely rains ; and the dust of 
the roads, travelled by horses' feet and many 
wheels, rises during the heated day in clouds 
from which there is no escape, and from which 
the eyes, ears, nose and lips, throat and lungs, 
must needs suffer. It is no exaggeration to say, 
that often, when we were all compelled to get 
out on account of being obliged to lift the car- 
riage aside so that those meeting us could pass, 
the dust was literally ankle-deep. 

Many accidents occur, and many horses break 
down ; some stray at night, and others were 
supposed to be stolen. The inconvenience 
and dangers arising from bad roads and slow 
transit are large indeed ; and we do not think 
that these will ever be remedied until a railroad 
is made to the principal points, from which at 
moderate distances roads and bridle-paths could 
lead. 

If railroad transit and hotel accommodations 
at different points are not introduced, much of 



248 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

the value of the park is sure to be destroyed. 
Now scores of camp-fires are of necessity 
lighted every night, and in this dry region the 
fires are sure to spread. The forests are very 
thick ; and the wood is pine, fir, and black 
spruce. When on fire, nothing but heavy rains 
can stay the devastation ; and no one can ride 
over the park without seeing the ruins which 
have already been wrought. We have seen 
many camp-fires which have been left burning 
after the tents were struck. When at the Upper 
Basin, a camp-fire spread into a forest towards 
the west ; and the flames, rushing to the high 
tops of a thousand resinous trees, made the 
night grander than all the geysers combined. 



TOUR OF THE PARK, 249. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

TOUR OF THE PARK. 

After coming about fifty-six miles by rail 
directly south from Livingston, coaches convey 
passengers to the Great Mammoth Springs 
HoteL The building is very spacious, the 
rooms large, and the ceilings high. It is quite 
unfinished, and hastily constructed ; but it is 
very comfortable, and the table is good. The 
wood of which it is built was growing in the 
forest last March, as Mr. Hatch tells us. The 
hotel is four miles south of the north line of 
the park, and six miles from the terminus of the 
Northern Pacific branch road. 

Starting from the hotel to make the tour of 
the park, for more than two miles, driving to 
the right of the terrace, you slowly climb a 
steep hill, difficult to go up, and dangerous to 
come down. This hill is a foot-terrace of Ter- 
race Mountain, which is of geyser origin. The 
wonderful cone of the Lone Star Geyser can 
be seen on the left of the road. At the left 
you will see Swan Lake, distant from the hotel 



250 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

five miles. You will next cross the Gardiner 
Fork (seven miles and a half trom the hotel), 
to the upper end of Willow Park (eleven 
miles), and the obsidian cliffs and Beaver Lake 
(twelve miles). 

These cliffs are of volcanic glass. They rise 
like basalt in vertical columns : they are a thou- 
sand feet long, and from a hundred and fifty 
to two hundred and fifty feet high. The glass 
is nearly black, like that of which cheap bottles 
are made. The glass carriage-road at the base 
— a quarter of a mile long — was made by 
building great fires upon the mass, and then 
pouring cold water on the heated glass, in 
which laborious way it was subdued to a road- 
bed. 

The Lake of the Woods is fourteen miles 
from the hotel. A short distance beyond are 
Hot Springs, sixteen miles from the hotel. 
You cross the Norris Fork (twenty miles), and 
then reach the Norris Geyser basin (twenty 
miles and a half). 

No one can adequately describe these power- 
ful geysers of every variety, from crystal streams 
to thick mud thrown high In the air, the smoke, 
the sulphur odors, the various colors, the rum- 
bling roar, the eternal violent boiling of so 
many pools, as though fiends were below, vying 
with each other in heating high the bubbling 
■caldrons. 



TOUR OF THE PARK. 25 1 

On the verge of the road is a hole which 
sends out with incessant roar and terrific force 
a blast of superheated steam. On the left of 
the road is the wonderful Emerald Pool, brim 
full of clearest water. 

Just beyond is the Minute Geyser; and 
farther to the left is the Monarch, which once 
in twenty-four hours spouts a stream from a 
hundred to a hundred and twenty-five feet, and 
the flow of boiling water is immense. The 
Fearless is near by, with a crater from which 
is spouted dark-green w^ater. 

There are numerous other pools and boiling 
springs and smoking basins. These must be 
seen to be appreciated : no words can fairly 
convey the impression which they make. 

Next comes the Gibbon Paint-pot Basin ; 
from the hotel twenty-five miles. This beau- 
tiful place is several acres in extent, and is half 
a mile north-easterly from the bluff at the head 
of Gibbon Canon. It is not very easy of access, 
as there is no road, and the trail is indistinct. 
These " paint-pots," as they are called, are im- 
mense pools of boiling water, of every variety 
of color, and grand in their vastness. They 
should not be passed by. They cannot be seen 
from the road ; but long before you reach them, 
their smoke, their smell, and their noise will 
tell you where they are. 



252 FROM FIFTH AVFNUE TO ALASKA. 

As you turn to your left, and enter the 
Gibbon Canon, on the right is a foot-bridge over 
the river. A trail leads from the bridge, up the 
rough slope of the mountain, a thousand feet 
above the river. You then reach the Monu- 
ment Geyser Basin. This basin contains five 
acres. The geysers are nearly extinct ; and the 
twelve monumental cones have a strange ap- 
pearance, and give the name to the basin. The 
belching steam is almost deafening as you 
stand near, and is heard for miles : it is super- 
heated, and will shrivel a stout young pine in a 
minute. We are now from the Mammoth Hotel 
over twenty-five miles. 

Next come the falls of the Gibbon River, 
from the hotel twenty-nine miles. These are 
on the right, and are not seen from the road : 
it requires considerable exertion to reach them. 
They are very fine. 

Half a mile farther we come to Canon 
Brook, a beautiful crooked stream. 

We next reach the fork of the Firehole River, 
from the hotel thirty-six miles. On the right 
and west side of the river, some distance from 
the main road, is a little hotel called Marshall's : 
to reach this, you must ford the river. 

A little more than a mile from Marshall's, 
following the road, you come to the black- 
smith's shop of Graham Henderson, who is 



TOUR OF THE PARK. 253 

employed by the government. His log house 
is at the forks of the road ; the right leading to 
the Upper Geyser Basin, and the left leading 
to the falls and the Yellowstone Lake. This is 
from the Mammoth Hotel thirty- seven miles. 

Next we reach the Lower Geyser Basin, from 
the Mammoth Hotel thirty-nine miles. This 
basin is of large area, and in it are known to 
be seventeen geysers and many hot springs. 
In one of these the whitened skeleton of a 
buffalo was discovered. The Fountain Geyser 
is the most remarkable in this basin. West of 
the geyser is a group of springs where the de- 
posit is such that the ground appears deluged 
In blood. 

We next reach the Midway Basin, from the 
Mammoth Hotel forty-one miles. This basin 
is on the right across the Firehole River, high 
above the stream. A foot-bridge leads to it : 
its ever-ascending smoke will point it out. It 
runs a mile along the river-bank. 

The Sheridan Geyser, named after the illus- 
trious general, is, without doubt, the largest 
in the known world. Gen. Sheridan, while at 
the Mammoth Springs on the 31st of August 
last (1883), told my father that he was present 
at an eruption of this geyser ; and he subse- 
quently wrote an account of it as follows : — 



254 FROM FIFTH A VENUE TO ALASKA. 

Headquarters Military Division of the Missouri, 
Chicago, Oct. 23, 1883. 

Hon. Edwards Pierrepont, 

No. 103 Fifth Avemie, New- York City. 

My dear Si7% — In reply to your note of Sept. 
14, inquiring how the ''Sheridan Geyser" in the 
Yellowstone Park came to receive its name, I would 
say that in 1881 I visited the park with Mr. Baronett 
as my guide. He was the first person to tell me of 
this geyser, had seen it when it first erupted, and 
had named it after me from that time The crater 
of the geyser was about seventy feet in diameter, 
and threw up a column of water of about that diame- 
ter and about four hundred and twenty-five feet high, 
as estimated by Mr. Baronett, who has had great 
experience with geysers. Its period, at that time, 
was about four days. In moving out from the Gey- 
ser Basin, about four days after a previous eruption, 
I stopped some time in order to see the display : but 
my time would not permit me to wait longer, and I 
had to move on ; when I reached the Lower Geyser 
Basin, the eruption took place, and I was distant from 
it some three or four miles. It seemed to be of 
unusual height, but I did not see it while immediately 
in its vicinity. 

In 1882 I revisited the Geyser Basin. I discovered 
that, during the interval, the action had been very 
violent : the crater had increased, and eruptions had 
torn away the surface of the crater in the direction 
of Firehole River, making a slight depression in the 
general surface. Large blocks of stone had been 
thrown out, and carried by the current through this 
depression into Firehole River, while smaller rocks 



TOUR OF THE PARK. 255 

were scattered for some distance around the crater. 
I was so unfortunate as not to see it in action again ; 
though after I had passed it, and was examining the 
geysers of the Lower Geyser Basin, there were two 
eruptions from it, separated by intervals of about 
two hours, but they did not seem to be so high as 
the first one I saw. 

In 1883 I again visited this geyser: I did not 
have an opportunity of seeing it in active condition, 
but the appearance of the crater indicated that there 
had been very violent action. 

I enclose a letter of Surgeon W. H. Forwood, 
U. S. A., who accompanied me upon each of my visits 
to the Yellowstone Park, and who examined the gey- 
ser more carefully. 

Very truly yours, 

P. H. SHERIDAN, 

Lieiitenatit General. 

Chicago, III., Sept. 24, 1883. 
Gen. Sheridan, Chicago, III, 

Dear General, — In reply to your inquiry regard- 
ing my observation of the Sheridan Geyser, I have 
to say that I was present, and saw an eruption of 
the geyser, Aug. 21, 1882. It was early in the morn- 
ing : the air was chilly, and the steam condensed 
with great rapidity. The water rose at first in a 
great body, perhaps twenty or thirty feet in diame- 
ter ; but before it had reached fifty feet in height, 
the whole place was enveloped in such a dense cloud 
of steam, that I could only judge of what was going 
on by the tremendous rushing noise, and the vibra- 
tions of the surrounding surface. 



256 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

The column o£ steam was two hundred feet in 
diameter, and shot up several hundred feet into the 
air. The eruption lasted about five or six minutes, 
accompanied by the throwing-out of small rocks, 
fragments of the geyserite ; and when it had sub- 
sided, a brisk shower, from the condensing vapor, 
fell in a circuit around the crater. 

The group of hot springs at this point was first 
described by Dr. A. C. Peale, in United-States Geo- 
logical Report for 1871, and named by him the 
"Wayside Springs." The one now known as the 
Sheridan Geyser was called the Caldron. Its erup- 
tions are believed to have begun some time in 1881. 

These were first discovered and pointed out by 
Mr. Baronett, owner of Baronett's Bridge. Passing 
from the state of a hot spring to that of a geyser, 
it was entitled to a new name ; and Mr. Baronett, as 
the discoverer, was entitled to name it, which he did, 
calling it the '' Sheridan Geyser." I recognized his 
priority, and adopted it in my report of 1882. 
Very respectfully your obedient servant, 

W. H. FOR WOOD, Surgeon U.S.A. 

An attempt has been made to call this the 
Excelsior Geyser. This heated pit is three 
hundred and thirty by two hundred feet. The 
water is of a deep clear blue, more beautiful in 
tint than any blue of the sky : it is wonderfully 
transparent, and you can look down more than 
twenty feet below the surface. It is intensely 
agitated, and dense clouds of steam incessantly 
arise : it is only when the wind sweeps the vapor 



TOUR OF THE PARK. 257 

aside, that you can look deeply down. It was 
not known to be a geyser until a few years ago, 
when the eruption was so great that the Fire- 
hole River was so swollen as to carry away the 
bridges below. Col. Norris, then the superin- 
tendent of the park, reported that in the sum- 
mer of 1880 the power of the eruption was 
almost incredible ; " elevating sufficient water 
to heights of from a hundred to three hundred 
feet, to render the Firehole River nearly a hun- 
dred yards wide, a foaming torrent of steam- 
ing hot water, and hurling rocks of from one 
to a hundred pounds in weight, like those from 
an exploded mine, over surrounding acres." 
When in action it causes rumbling vibrations 
like an earthquake, and throws out stones like a 
volcano. We did not see it in eruptive action. 
It is popularly known as " Hell's Half- Acre." 
The intervals of eruption are as yet unknown. 

Next w^e reach Old Faithful in the Upper 
Geyser Basin, ten miles above the forks of the 
road, and from the Mammoth Springs forty- 
seven miles. This basin is some four miles 
long ; but the principal geysers are situated on 
both sides of the Firehole River, and within 
the space of about half a mile. Excepting the 
Sheridan Geyser, which far surpasses any other, 
the chief geysers are in this basin. There are 
more than twenty. 



258 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

There are numerous other geysers and boil- 
ing springs in the park, but I have mentioned 
the most noted. There are several on the Yel- 
lowstone Lake. They often injure the waters 
of the lakes and rivers into which their over- 
flow runs, rendering them warm and disagree- 
able to the taste, and often unhealthy. 

We now return to Henderson's (the black- 
smith's) at the road-forks, some ten miles north 
of Old Faithful. Taking the easterly and left 
fork of the road, we advance towards the Yel- 
lowstone Lake ; and going twenty-two miles 
we come to the other forks, the right leading 
to the lake (ten miles), and the left going to 
the falls (eight miles) : hence from forks of 
road at the blacksmith's shop to the lake is 
thirty-two miles, and to the falls thirty miles. 

The distance from the Mammoth Springs 
Hotel to Old Faithful in the Upper Geyser 
Basin, thence to the Yellowstone Lake, and 
thence back to the Mammoth Springs, is by 
the carriage-road a hundred and seventy-five 
miles ; and the collateral distance travelled over 
in bridle-paths to see the Yellowstone Canons 
and various other curiosities is twenty-five 
miles, making in all two hundred miles. 

The lake has no considerable attractions. It 
has no snow mountains. Geysers and hot 
springs flow in some places ; and with a little 



TOUR OF THE PARK. 259 

wind the waters are made turbid, and unfit to 
drink. The trout are large and sickly, full of 
white worms, which make them very thin and 
unfit for food, and no more gamey than a bull- 
head or a codfish. The lake is said to be 
twenty miles by fifteen, and very deep. It may 
be "crystal clear" in some places, but we saw 
no such. In and around the lake and river, we 
saw innumerable swans, geese, pelicans, ducks, 
and many snipe and woodcock. 

In the river we caught many healthy trout, 
which were gamey enough, and took the fly 
quite eagerly. 

Camped on the road to the lake. Went out 
with Wyatt in the hope of seeing some game ; 
found plenty of old '' sign," but nothing else. 
We came across one curiosity which all the 
men said had never been seen in the whole of 
their hunting experiences, — the winter-quar- 
ters of a bear, surrounded by mounds of de- 
posit ; and, as it is generally supposed that 
bears take no nourishment during their winter 
seclusion, this circumstance surprised us all. 

THE GREAT FALLS OF THE YELLOWSTONE. 

To reach the falls, we return from the lake 
ten miles by the road, and following the north 
fork some two miles we reach on our right 
Sulphur Mountains or Crater Hills. These hills. 



t 
260 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

are about a hundred and fifty feet high, com- 
posed of calcareous substances impregnated 
with sulphur and Iron. At the foot of the hills 
are numerous sulphur-springs. The sulphur- 
deposits are very pure, and hundreds of tons 
he in heaps of bright yellow crystals. The 
fumes are quite powerful as they rise from the 
boiling caldrons, and a serious accident hap- 
pened to a horseman who rode too near one of 
them. They are very curious and wonderful. 

From Sulphur Mountains you proceed about 
six miles until you reach the Upper Fall of a 
hundred and twelve feet. 

Between the Upper and Lower Falls, the dis- 
tance is half a mile. Midway on the west side 
are the Crystal Cascades, which are the falls of 
a small, wild, rocky stream which rises in Mount 
Washburn, and runs into the Yellowstone : 
these three cascades are very beautiful, and 
make a fall of about a hundred and thirty feet. 
Here the Yellowstone rushes almost due north 
through a very narrow gorge, and the Great 
Fall of three hundred feet or more soon ap- 
pears. The waters are very green. The Lower 
Fall is far deeper than the Upper, but in many 
respects the Upper is the more attractive. 

But the Grand Canon, twenty-four miles long 
and at some points twelve hundred feet deep, 
is said to be far the most wonderful mountain 



TOUR OF THE PARK. 26 1 

gorge yet discovered In the world. Its lofty 
rugged sides, brilliant with varied colors, are 
marvellous indeed. We observed that tourists 
loved to linger here above any other place in 
the park, and artists from Europe were sketch- 
ing its unrivalled beauties. 

This park, — wonderland as it is called, — 
large as a European principality, has been but 
partially explored ; and new discoveries are 
pretty sure to be made. I have the assurance 
from competent and trustworthy men, that, 
since shooting at game Is prohibited, the lakes 
will soon be alive with wild geese, ducks, swans, 
and other water-fowl, and the meadows and 
plains full of buffalo, deer, antelope, elk, and the 
wild big-horn sheep, with bears also, unless they 
are excepted from the order preventing the 
killing of game. 

The present roads are to a large extent un- 
wisely laid out, the engineering very defective, 
and the construction atrocious ; but the govern- 
ment has lately put the roads under the charge 
of Lieut. Kingman, who is said to be a very 
competent engineer. We met him in the park. 
He Is a young man of agreeable manners, 
intelligence, and energy, and much may be 
expected from his New-England industry and 
ambition for success. 

There can be no doubt that increasing num- 



262 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

bers will visit this Interesting region as the 
faciHties of transit and hotel accommodations 
increase ; and it is to be hoped that scientific 
men will be able before long to satisfy them- 
selves and the world as to whether the geysers 
and boiling pools come of the chemical action 
of water upon lime and other minerals, or from 
internal fires kept burning in the earth. 

As you drive through the park you will see 
miles upon miles of thick tall forest, covering 
an area of more than a hundred thousand acres, 
in which every tree is dead, not a living branch 
or leaf appearing. The trees stand thick and 
upright, their limbs firm, and the fine bushy 
spray nearly perfect even to the ends of their 
branches ; their color is ashy white, and in the 
moonlight they seem like forest corpses stand- 
ing erect where the blast of death struck them 
all at once. On many hillsides you will see 
forests longer dead, prostrate by the winds, 
covering the ground thickly as wheat-straws on 
a cradled field. 

You need not travel to Yellowstone Lake to 
catch trout in a cold stream, and boil them in 
a pool, without changing your tracks : you can 
do it on the banks of the Gardner River, with- 
in two miles of the Mammoth Hotel. 

On the 30th of August the President arrived, 



TOUR OF THE PARK, 263 

escorted by Gen. Sheridan, and accompanied 
by Secretary Lincoln, Senator Vest, Judge 
Rollins, the accomplished surrogate of New 
York, Gov. Crosby, and others. A cavalcade 
of mules and horses, three hundred in number, 
attended them. They had made an easy jour- 
ney on horseback, the horses walking the en- 
tire way, and stopping a few minutes for rest 
every hour. 

The distinguished party encamped near the 
springs ; and in the evening the President, with 
Gen. Sheridan and the rest, visited the hotel, 
where he was entertained with music, etc. 
They left early on the 31st for Livingston en 
route by the Northern Pacific for St. Paul. 

I was hunting in the Hoodoo Mountains at 
the time, and did not see the President ; but my 
father was at the springs, from whom I received 
the information about the President's visit. 

We noticed, while at the falls, a bird by the 
water's edge, picking up his food with great 
industry ; and on examination we found that he 
was extracting from a little stone house a worm, 
which for its dwelling had cemented topfether 
small particles of granite in a curious manner : 
the mosaic-work was wonderful, and the glue 
was not dissolved by the water. 

Mr. Brown, an English artist, was here, tak- 
ing in water-colors some of the more beautiful 
views of this marvellous canon. 



264 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

Just here the retriever of Dr. Bushnell rushed 
into the camp, with his nose full of porcupine- 
quills ; he yelping with pain as most of them 
were extracted, while some of them broke off, 
too deeply embedded to be pulled out. 

Here I had some superb trout-fishing by 
climbing down a very steep cliff, and getting 
close to the fall where there were some pools 
out of the main current, and which evidently 
had not been fished ; for, the moment I threw 
the small white miller, the rush to seize it was 
immense. The sport was so exciting that it 
was dark before I was aware ; and the danger- 
ous ascent delayed me so long that the camp 
became alarmed for my safety, and commenced 
a search. I hardly appreciated the peril until 
the next day, when I saw that a misstep would 
have sent me down the cafion many hundred 
feet. However, I had the pleasure of a fine 
catch of trout which had never experienced 
the sensation of being caught before. 

To those who enjoy trout-fishing and shoot- 
ing big game, the Yellowstone, its tributaries, 
and the Hoodoo Mountains, afford a healthful 
pleasure of unequalled attraction. 



LOST IN THE HOO.DOO MOUNTAINS. 265. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

LOST IN THE HOODOO MOUNTAINS WHILE HUNT- 
ING ELK AND BIG-HORN. 

Early on the 26th of August I left the Great 
Falls of the Yellowstone with a hunter Mr. 
Wyatt, and Mr. Murray to assist us, taking the 
three pack-horses, and three saddle-horses to 
ride. 

My father, with the government escort, re- 
turned to the National Hotel at the Mammoth 
Springs ; and I with my party started for a hunt 
of three weeks in Wyoming, east of the park, 
among the Hoodoo Mountains, a range north 
of the Big Horn and Stinking Water. 

This is the region known as the land of pet- 
rified forests, or Goblin Mountains ; difficult of 
access, very wild, of great altitude, and a good 
place for ''Rocky-Mountain sheep" or "big- 
horn," an animal which I had always longed to 
kill. Its cunning is even greater than that of 
the chamois or ibis; and it is immeasurably 
more difficult to shoot than the noble elk — to 
my mind the monarch of the forest. 



266 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

We filed along the canon side, looking down 
a thousand, and at times twelve hundred, feet, 
to the Yellowstone below. Our six ponies in 
line made quite a cavalcade. Wyatt led, on a 
grand black hunting-pony not afraid of bears, 
though apt to shy at any small animal like a 
chipmunk running across his path ; the sudden- 
ness being to him more terrifying than any real 
danger. Next came the first " pack," a roan 
■cayuse named " Mud Geyser," lazy, sure-footed, 
slow, and fat. Next then, your humble ser- 
vant, riding '' White Stockings," a pretty sorrel, 
very steady and speedy, and capable of stand- 
ing any thing. Then followed our second pack, 
" Buckskin," a strong yellow broncho, an infer- 
nal bucker, but a splendid pack-horse. Then 
in order, my second man Murray, riding " Old 
Reily," an aged roan, blind of one eye, ugly, 
and apt to stumble : his good qualities we only 
found out later on, when we discovered him to 
be the best riding-horse of the outfit, both as 
to his "lope" and walk. Last of all came the 
dark sorrel, " Rocketer," — as named by a lady 
friend after I had explained his powers of loco- 
motion, — packed lightly, and led by a rope. 

The two leaders of the four mules attached 
to father's military wagon bore rather comical 
names, — one Henry Ward Beecher, and the 
other Horace Greeley. 



LOST IN THE HOODOO MOUNTAINS. 26/ 

Mile after mile in Indian-file we followed the 
long trail along the top of the Grand Caiion, 
now and then pausing for one second to catch 
a glimpse of this marvellous gorge when some 
particularly imposing point had been reached. 
Rocketer occasionally objected to these views, 
and acted very nervously, which was not to be 
wondered at. 

Those of you who have read " Bailie Groh- 
man's " interesting account of the unexplored 
canons of Colorado — the dizzy depths, rushing 
waters, and perpendicular narrow walls rising 
thousands of feet — will possibly appreciate our 
day's ride northward along the great Yellow- 
stone Canon. The feeling is as if we were 
going into the depths of a Norwegian whirl- 
pool, which Poe so graphically describes in 
''The Descent of the Maelstrom." 

Soon after this we parted with our canon, 
and began to ascend. Now we encircled the 
base of Mount Washburn (height 10,340 feet), 
and then climbed on till we were some eight 
thousand feet above sea-level ; the trail running 
over hills, girding mountains, now cutting 
through the open for several miles, and then 
suddenly striking through the pines. 

Thus we travelled on our course ; and for one 
moment, in the far distance, we caught sight of 
our hunting-ground, the Hoodoo Mountains, 



268 FROM FIFTH A VENUE TO ALASKA. 

cold, blue, snowy, lying far to the north. In 
two more days we hoped to reach them before 
getting any sport ; for if one in the present 
day expects to kill '' big-horn " he will have 
many a mile to travel, and weeks perhaps of 
hard work, before ever seeing the imprint of a 
single hoof. 

Elk may perhaps be found at any time ; 
though, as long as " hide "-hunters exist, this 
noble game will continue to decrease, and prob- 
ably be the more difficult to kill. But " big- 
horn " are quite another thing. The hide itself 
is worthless, and the difficulty of hunting them 
so great as to prevent their being much thinned 
off for meat ; and yet, though a man might be 
in a splendid sheep country, see fresh signs 
everywhere and " beds " all along the rocks, 
still, if he were ignorant how to approach, he 
might not even be able to catch a glimpse of 
their much-prized horns. 

Toward evening, after making twenty miles, 
we camped on Tower Creek, which empties, a 
few hundred yards farther down, into the Yel- 
lowstone. 

Wandering down to the Tower Falls (a hun- 
dred and sixty feet) , — so called from the curi- 
ous lofty pinnacles which stand as sentinels on 
each side, — I tried to fish just where the 
creek empties into the main river, but found 



LOST IN THE HOODOO MOUNTAINS. 269 

that the sulphur-springs were so abundant as 
to drive every fish away, though a hundred 
yards farther up the trout were very plentiful. 
Returned to camp ; and after making up the 
bed, and rolling myself in the buffalo-robe, I 
write these lines by the light of a candle stuck 
in the top of a molasses-can used as an extem- 
pore candlestick. 

Aug. 27. — The night turned out very warm. 
After breakfast I found that one of my lead- 
pencils had disappeared, — a serious mishap ; 
for, as I have but one left, its loss would leave 
me with no chances of taking notes. Met an 
Englishman going the opposite direction, and 
in the course of conversation found him to be 
a Cambridge graduate, which seemed quite a 
strange coincidence in this lonely region. 

After journeying some fourteen miles north- 
west we reached the gamekeeper's cabin, so 
called from the fact of its having once been in- 
habited by such an official, though now owned 
by "Jump," a curious specimen of indifferent, 
kind-hearted humanity, half hunter, half pros- 
pector, living in this lonely little hut which 
was the last sign of civilization. The proprie- 
tor had not yet turned up, he (as we learned) 
being off fishing ; so, following his example, I 
started for the East Fork of the Yellowstone, a 
small river but a few yards off. Finding a deep 



270 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

hole, I managed to hook four pounds In a short 
time, using my favorite rubber grasshopper. 

Going back I found " Old Jump," as he Is 
called, entering the cabin ; a long string of big 
trout In one hand, and an enormous pole In the 
other. He was booming with profanity, his 
gray locks and beard flying in the air, and his 
gaunt, bowed, very tall figure swaying about in 
a sort of loose, disjointed manner, quite ludi- 
crous to behold. I gave him some rubber 
grasshoppers (which In his estimation were 
great curiosities), a couple of fish-lines, and 
some gaudy salmon-flies. These trifling gifts, 
coupled with a good drink of whiskey, made 
him most friendly ; and he showered upon us 
every attention which his modest means could 
afford. Unfortunately he begged me to sleep 
on the floor of the hut Instead of outside, and 
spread some of his own bedding down to make 
the boards soft. I agreed. Oh, horrors ! the 
place swarmed with vermin, which, though un- 
felt by his own callous hide, made my night 
one of perpetual torment. Shakspeare's Clar- 
ence may have had an awful dream of dead 
men's skulls In the bottom of the sea, but I 
had something worse than dreams all night. 
At dawn I got a little rest. 

When I awoke,, a curious scene was being 
enacted : Jump was parching some coffee be- 



LOST IN THE HOODOO MOUNTAINS. 2/1 

fore the fire, which by the crackHng gave evi- 
dence of having just been started. RecHning 
in different positions over the boards were 
drowsy men awaking to Hfe, who had entered 
while we slept, at various hours in the night. 
A cat was purring in front of the stove ; and 
an old hen, followed by three scraggy chickens, 
picked their way about, having just entered by 
the open door. Among the rafters and in the 
huge logs which made up the walls were hung 
every imaginable thing, — fishing-rods, colossal 
Mexican spurs with rowels like diminutive 
water-wheels, a coffee-mill, old Cheyenne sad- 
dles, bleached elk-horns, an aged porcupine- 
skin, a couple of sheep-hides shrivelled and 
only half cured, wet clothes drying by the fire, 
pieces of candle, flour, coffee, sugar, green tea, 
and a hundred other little odds and ends ; 
which made up our last look at civilization, be- 
fore reaching the remote wilderness for which 
we headed. 

After dropping a line to father, — to be taken 
by the mounted mail-carrier, who twice a week 
stopped to lasso a fresh horse in the corral 
while passing to and fro between Cook's City 
(a mining-camp lying to the westward) and 
Livingston, — we packed up, said good-by, and 
were soon on the " blazed trail " leading south- 
ward towards the " Goblin Land." 



2/2 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

Hour after hour we wound along through the 
timber, wading streams and dimbing hills, until 
having reached a fair elevation we camped for 
the night by the side of a running brook. 

After dining off a couple of pheasants (their 
ruffed black necks and fan-like tails and brown- 
ish-colored bodies making quite a different bird 
from the gay-plumaged English bird of the 
same name), and after the horses had enjoyed 
the good grass which abounded in the open, 
we saddled " White Stocking" and " Old Pard," 
and made a detour along the bottom-land, 
hoping perhaps to catch a bear digging roots. 
There were plenty of old " signs " of both bear 
and elk, but nothing fresh. Here and there 
we saw specimens of petrified trees, which 
marked the beginning of the Hoodoo region, 
which we hoped to reach the next day. 

Guiding the ponies over several streams and 
creeks, we came upon several beaver '' slides " 
and dams, having masses of large stones for 
weights on top, which Wyatt said these little 
fellows by their united efforts had managed to 
pile up. The limbs of the cotton-wood and 
quaking-ash are cut into pieces about a foot 
long, which the beavers lay aside for winter 
food, making use of the bark. 

Returning, I shot a porcupine through the 
head ; but, as nlo-ht was drawino- on, we had no 



LOST IN THE HOODOO MOUNTAINS. 2/3 

time for skinning. Their hides are difficult to 
pack ; since the quills work their way through 
the skin of a horse, mule, or dog, causing in- 
tense pain ; though the alleged power of the 
animal to shoot its quills is a myth, much akin 
to the well-known tale that Rocky-mountain 
sheep when descending cliffs land on their horns. 
I have observed larofe numbers of "bisf-horn" in 
order to ascertain whether there was any truth 
in these assertions, and have never seen an 
instance, nor have I ever met a hunter who 
would personally vouch for this absurd state- 
ment. 

Aug. 29. — Continuing our journey over the 
blazed trail, we soon came to a very difficult 
ascent, excessively steep and arduous. Saw 
some old elk-trails and the fresh track of a 
bull elk. After more climbing, we at last 
reached snow-banks ; and in two hours more 
reached the longed-for Hoodoo Basin, an un- 
dulating piece of land, made up of parks, the 
heads of streams, grassy slopes, little woody 
belts, snow-ridges, and recesses, the whole be- 
ing surrounded, as far as the eye could reach, 
by ranges of vast snow-mountains and inacces- 
sible rocky peaks. The altitude was ten thou- 
sand feet above the sea, and every thing bore 
evidence of being a good Rocky-mountain- 
sheep country. 



2/4 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

Encamping by a little running stream from 
the melting of the snowbanks, we were sur- 
prised, while sitting around the fire, to be 
visited by two old hide-hunters, dressed in 
tattered clothes partly made up of skins, their 
faces tanned to a mahogany hue, and their 
whole appearance being that of another race 
from ourselves. For six years they had never 
slept in a house ; their vocation being one of 
merely killing animals for the pelts, and, after 
half a year had been spent in getting a load, 
taking them to the nearest fur-station, and 
receiving in return powder, shot, fiour, coffee, 
sugar, salt, and money, and then again burying 
themselves among the vast rocky ranges of 
the hunting-grounds. They both used Sharps, 
with the single shot, solid ball, and seventy 
to ninety grains of powder. We enlightened 
them as to where they were, had a regular 
hunters' chat about ''trails," "whistles," "signs," 
" ranges," with arguments as to the killing 
power of various guns ; until finally, as night 
was closing, Wyatt and I prospected the coun- 
try on foot a little in order to map out a plan 
of action for the morrow. 

We found lots of sheep-tracks along the 
precipices, and down in the timber we came 
across the half-buried carcass of an elk that our 
new acquaintances had killed and skinned only 



LOST IN THE HOODOO MOUNTAINS. 2/5 

a few days previous. All around were bear- 
tracks : though we could not exactly determine 
whether they were made by the straight claws 
of a grizzly, or by the curved ones of a cinna- 
mon, the nails not being distinctly defined ; 
their size was too large for a black bear. Mak- 
ing up our minds to watch next evening, we 
sauntered homewards, and soon all five, the 
old hunters joining in, sat round the blazing 
camp-fire ; and for upwards of an hour I lis- 
tened to hairbreadth escapes and tales of In- 
dian fights among the Black Hills. 

Before turning in, I took a look at the beau- 
tiful reflection of the moon on the snow-moun- 
tains ; and then, as the night was cold, all three 
of us got under the tent. But presently Mur- 
ray began to snore fearfully, and soon rolled 
himself up outside, which he always has pro- 
fessed to like much better than the close at- 
mosphere of a tent. 

30///. — ■ Started on horseback with Wyatt, at 
dawn, for one of the snowy ridges that we saw 
towards the westward the evening before ; it 
having every appearance of being good " sheep- 
ground." After riding a couple of miles, we 
dismounted and tethered ; and with rifles in 
hand we cautiously made a detour, keeping the 
wind in our faces, and began to encounter tracks 
at every step, some bearing the appearance of 



2^6 FROM FIFTH A VENUE TO ALASKA. 

being only an hour old. Soon we came to 
some ''beds" still warm ; and, expecting to see 
our game at every step, we carefully crept up 
some rocks, and then inch by inch slowly raised 
our heads, and looked down. Wyatt was the 
first to smell game. Suddenly crouching down, 
he beckoned to me to follow : and both running 
round, we soon again slowly looked over the 
ridge, hardly daring to breathe ; for there in 
plain sight, a hundred and twenty yards down 
the cliff, was a band of seventeen mountain- 
sheep, some lying down, others scratching 
themselves against some juniper-bushes, while 
one old doe kept watch as sentinel. We knew 
they had not scented us ; but they evidently were 
beginning to get uneasy, so I began to prepare 
for a shot. 

Wyatt pointed out the only ram of the outfit, 
a young two-year-old fellow, — the rest being 
old does and fawns, — who seemed, for some 
reason, not over-anxious to come from behind 
the bushes against which he was polishing his 
horns. Finally he made up his mind, and came 
in full sight : so quickly raising, I took steady 
aim, and fired, letting him have it rather far 
back, the ball ranging forward. The whole 
herd, for a moment, seemed rather disconcerted ; 
then wheeling, dashed down the cliff. Wyatt 
took a hurried shot ; and I had another try at a 



LOST IN THE HOODOO MOUNTAINS. 2'JJ 

fawn who ran broadside, affording me a pretty 
chance behind the shoulders. We then ran 
around, and got a couple more shots at four 
hundred yards' range ; but, owing to want of 
calculation, the balls fell short, plainly plough- 
ing up the ground. 

We had not waited to observe the effect of 
our first fire, all vanishing over the cliffs ; so 
that now we slowly returned, half in doubt as to 
what would be our success. 

All fears were soon dispelled ; for, on scaling 
down sixty yards from where they had been 
standing, we found both the ram and fawn stone 
dead, lying but a few feet from one another. 
Taking off the head and horns, and cutting a 
quarter for camp, we struggled up again, the 
rarefied atmosphere making us halt for breath 
every few yards. Coming up with the horses, 
we packed the meat and horns behind " Old 
Pard," and soon reached home, quite well pleased 
with our morning's work. 

The skinning process was well done by Wyatt, 
both the jawbones saved, and the meat picked 
out ; and soon, after a good salting, the hide 
was propped up to dry, — all these precautions 
having to be taken to insure a safe delivery into 
the taxidermist's hands. 

Suddenly black thunder-clouds rolled over us, 
followed by rain, sleet, and hail. Quickly gath- 



2/8 FROM FIFTH A VENUE TO ALASKA. 

ering the valuables into our tent, huddled to- 
gether, we waited patiently for the storm to 
pass. At this altitude of ten thousand feet, 
the old mountain tops resound with peals of 
thunder, re-echoed from peak to peak. The 
sun burst forth again at four p.m., and one hard- 
ly realizes that a raging storm has just passed 
over. 

Starting off for the elk-carcass, we found a 
bear's tracks, showing four different journeys 
from his cave somewhere down the ravine. 
Finding a screen of spruce boughs, at a dis- 
tance of some fifty yards, we waited. 

As the sun went down, we were occasionally 
startled by a warning note of approaching game 
in the shape of a chipmonk's squeal, or the 
chattering of a red squirrel. Once a large black 
eagle wheeled round, alighted, and began to 
stalk up to the meat: but, catching sight of us, 
quickly soared away. The sun went down, 
darkness set in, and we could just see the elk's 
outline. At last the air grew very cold; and, 
being unable to take sight, we started for camp. 

Next morning we discovered that the bear 
had come for his evening meal, but, scenting us, 
had circled round behind ; his huge tracks being 
only a few yards distant in our rear. Luckily 
he was not famished, or else a '' charge" would 
have been inevitable. As it was, he must have 



LOST IN THE HOODOO MOUNTAINS. 279 

found another carcass, or else this one was too 
far gone ; for he never came again. 

Aicg. 31. — After riding our horses down and 
up some deep gulches and canons to a point 
some six miles distant, we dismounted, in the 
hope of scaling the main peaks of the Hoodoo 
Mountains. Drizzling rain set in, which, added 
to the hard climbing, made this the hardest day 
of all. We started on the trail of three does, 
after following which for a mile or so, a young 
buck joined the trail ; and, on pushing on still 
farther, we entirely lost track of the band amidst 
the rock-work. Rejoining the cayuses, we soon 
reached the tent, both empty handed and well 
worn out. 

At eleven p.m. one of the most terrific thun- 
der-storms set in that even Wyatt had ever wit- 
nessed. Only up at this great height can one 
realize the fearful grandeur of the lightning : 
peal upon peal of thunder reverberated among 
the rugged mountain tops. Sheets of rain fell, 
wetting the contents of my tent through and 
through ; the canvas not being proof against the 
drenching storm. Being under a tall pine-tree, 
and thus being protected somewhat from the 
wind, the tent-pegs remained fast ; but I had 
some fears as to lightning, since several streaks 
had descended into the ground only a few yards 
•off, thunder following instantaneously. 



28o FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

Sept. I. — Morning found us wet and discon- 
solate. Fire could hardly be started. Soon the 
sun shone out, which quickly dispelled our mis- 
ery. Starting about ten a.m., we took another 
range, and found ourselves following along the 
side of a deep canon. Seeing plenty of sheep- 
signs, we cautiously moved over the rocks, hard- 
ly even whispering. 

Though crawling along with the greatest cir- 
cumspection, I happened to loosen a little stone. 
While watching it roll down, inwardly cursing 
my carelessness, as the little supposed mischief- 
maker passed a large bowlder, it turned into a 
blessing in disguise ; for out started, not sixty 
yards away, a fine three-year-old ram with beau- 
tifully curved horns, both points being perfect. 
Instantly raising my rifle, making allowance for 
elevation, I fired; the ball entering, and passing 
through rather too far, behind the shoulders. 
Rushing forward, for fear of losing sight of 
him among the rocks, it took four more balls 
to actually bring him down ; three passing 
through his side, entirely too far back, and the 
last one breaking his hind-leg. 

The males of the larger animals of Wyoming, 
and throughout the West in general, are very 
hard killing, unless hit exactly right. At the 
beginning of the rutting season, the bull elk, 
covered as he is then with fat, measuring nearly 



LOST IN THE HOODOO MOUNTAINS. 28 1 

everywhere four inches in thickness, will carry 
off nearly as much lead as a rhinoceros ; and he 
is fully as long-lived as a bear. 

Both these ram's horns were perfect ; and as 
they now cast, their shadow over my writing- 
desk, many memories of hunting-days are pleas- 
antly recalled, and I can once more fancy myself 
scaling some peak in the hope of finding " big- 
horn." 

Returning, we built a roaring fire, and were 
soon drinking our coffee by its blaze. 

Sept. 2, — To-day, taking another route to 
the north-west, we climbed some strangely chis- 
elled peaks, from whose summits we had beauti- 
ful distant views. Later we followed an old ram's 
track for miles : at every moment the increasing 
freshness of the print gave us every hope of 
soon coming up with him; but, after several 
hours of unsuccessful stalking, we were forced 
to return. Feeling quite satisfied with our 
two rams in four days, we made up our minds 
to strike camp next morning, returning to lower 
regions in search of elk. 

All the elk-tracks were rather old, most of 
them pointing westward ; and the old hunters 
assured us that they had left the range where 
we were, and without doubt were seeking 
winter-quarters below. Our trapper friends 
had killed only three elks in one week ; which, 



282 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

considering the undisturbed condition of this 
region, was but poor luck. 

It had not been our custom to fire at small 
game when in a hunting-country; but, as we had 
decided upon new quarters, we could not resist 
potting for supper a couple of young jack- 
rabbits and a grouse. 

Sept, 3. — "All set" being said, we wended 
our way westward ; and, after descending some 
eight miles or so, we camped under a clump of 
tall firs, on a stream which eventually empties 
into the Yellowstone. After a heavy luncheon 
off sheep-steaks, Wyatt and I, after saddling 
''Old Reily" and ''Old Pard," scrambled up 
the hill in order to reach the table-land, the top 
of which we had judged must be pretty flat, and 
full of springs. 

We encountered fresh signs on all sides, — 
tracks, beds in the grass where the elks had lain 
the night previous, and quantities of young trees 
whose tender bark was freshly lacerated by the 
bulls while polishing their antlers. 

After making a long circle on foot, we re- 
joined the horses, and were quietly riding 
through the timber, giving free rein to the mus- 
tangs, which nimbly cleared the many fallen 
logs which form the greatest impediment to 
hunting game in the "whistling" season. At 
this time in the year elks are generally moving, 



LOST IN THE HOODOO MOUNTAINS. 283 

and keep pretty well concealed amidst the dense 
forests of Wyoming. Just at this instant, when 
we had given up all hope of hunting any more 
before dark, " Old Pard " shied violently to one 
side, nearly hurling Wyatt against a tree. The 
cause was easily seen ; for not thirty yards off 
a large bull elk and two does were standing in 
the shade of some trees, looking straight at us, 
as if wondering at the intrusion. This was my 
first sight of this noble game, and his imperial 
grandeur awakened an admiration that for a 
moment made me hesitate to shoot. Quickly 
dismounting, however, I sighted as well as the 
twilight permitted, and fired, taking aim, as near 
as I could judge, behind the shoulder. The 
bull quivered, staggered, and for an instant 
seemed to hesitate ; then like lightning all three 
wheeled, and crashed through the underbrush, 
their fierce, mad, headlong retreat over the 
fallen timber being audible for several minutes. 
Approaching the spot, we saw quite plainly, 
both by the cut hair and tracks, that the bullet 
had gone home ; but as it was too dark to 
follow In pursuit, there being much danger in 
so doing of our not reaching camp, we aban- 
doned all farther chase. 

Sept. 4. — Wyatt and I, mounting our ponies, 
took a rather different direction, picketed the 
horses, and had a long day's tramp. About 



284 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

noon we were climbing over a rough piece of 
ground, where every other step was across the 
fallen trunk of some old fir, while the pines 
themselves grew so close that the sun's rays 
could but feebly penetrate. 

Suddenly a crackling, as of sorne animal 
stealthily moving away, seemed to continue in 
front of us ; and once, turning sharply around 
while we were balancing ourselves on a huge 
log, for the first time in my life I saw the 
'' American mountain lion," or puma. For one 
instant we beheld a long, yellow animal on the 
point of leaping down from a tree : a spring, 
something long and yellow flashed past us ; and, 
before we had time to shoulder our guns, the 
puma had vanished behind one of the innu- 
merable stumps which everywhere barred our 
progress. 

Hardly had we advanced a hundred yards 
before we heard the "whistle" of a bull elk. 
Now, those who have never heard the call of 
the male while running, let them imagine a 
species of whistling which commences rather 
shrilly, then becoming semi-musical, resembling 
an seollan harp, finally ending with a bugle- 
note ; the entire sound lasting three or four 
seconds. 

The season with wappiti, or elk, is Septem- 
ber; during the early part of which the bulls are 



LOST IN THE HOODOO MOUNTAINS. 285 

very fat, their necks increasing in size propor- 
tionate to the length of time the animal has 
been running. In from three to four weeks he 
loses his flesh, becomes very poor, and remains 
so all winter until the following spring. 

With the utmost caution we began to draw 
near the spot from whence the sound pro- 
ceeded, and had not crawled more than sixty 
yards before we came upon a magnificent old 
bull standing close to a cow not more than sev- 
enty yards off. Taking good aim, I took two 
shots in rapid succession ; one piercing the 
lungs, and the other entering the region near 
the heart. His mate seemed loath to leave, 
and, even after the shooting, trotted once or 
twice around him. At last they both broke 
away, and I had time to put in a couple more 
shots while running. 

Hastening up, we soon saw splashes of lung- 
blood ; so, giving him plenty of time to stiffen, 
we trailed, and after a few moments came upon 
the wappiti lying on the ground, swaying his 
splendid horns from side to side in the agonies 
of death. As he saw us approach, his eyes 
flashed, and he started to his feet once more, 
lowered his head, and for one moment w^e ex- 
pected a charge : so taking good aim, I put a 
bullet through his heart ; and he sank to earth, 
dead. 



286 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

This was my first elk ; and as I looked on 
this monarch of the woods as he lay stretched 
out to his full size, all my previous deer-speci- 
mens compared with this giant seemed infini- 
tesimal. His horns spread some four feet, which 
is unusually wide ; the six points of both sides 
being perfect. They now adorn our hall. 

The trailing of elk at this time of year, unless 
shot through the lungs, is very difficult, owing 
to the immense quantity of fat which seems to 
obstruct the flow of blood, and prevent it gush- 
ing out. 

After skinning the head, and taking off the 
horns, we cut off the tenderloin and sirloin and 
tongue, packing them up for safe-keeping ; and, 
as we were out of bacon, we took the tallow 
also, covered as it was wath the caul. Return- 
ing to camp, we delighted Murray with the pros- 
pect of plenty of meat, and got every thing 
prepared for packing it next day. 

Sept. 5. — Leading all three of the pack- 
horses to where we left the antlers, we sawed 
the skull and horns in two, salted the head, 
skinned and packed sixty pounds of meat, and 
again started on a hunt. Once more we caught 
a glimpse, for one instant, of a puma : but 
their cat-like movements soon enable them to 
creep out of sight ; and unless hunted with dogs, 
and regularly treed, the chance of ever killing 



LOST IN THE HOODOO MOUNTAINS. 28/ 

one is very small. Soon after this, in a little 
open, we came suddenly upon a cow and calf; 
but as we had plenty of fresh meat we let them 
go, and returned to camp. 

Our luxuries had become pretty low ; sugar, 
coffee, flour, and salt being nearly all that re- 
mained of our store. 

Sept. 6. — Went out next day; heard an elk 
whistle several times, but we were unable to 
get near him. Getting back to camp, we found 
our old friends, the hunters, had come down 
to lower quarters in the hopes of finding more 
game. 

By the merest accident I secured the largest 
pair of '' big-horns " that had been seen. The 
old ram was seen towards evening, while but- 
ting with another, on the ver^^ ridge I had left 
the night before ; and one of the hunters shot 
him. I paid him for his luck, and took the 
horns, which I now have, together with those 
I shot myself. They measure sixteen inches in 
circumference, and thirty-seven and a half inches 
in leno-th of curve. All the hunters concurred 
in the opinion that they were the largest which 
they had ever seen. 

We decided to start the next morning, in the 
hope of finding bear among the berry-patches 
around Slough Creek. 

Sept. 7. — Murray had such a sick-headache 



288 FROM FIFTH A VENUE TO ALASKA. 

this morning, that we concluded to wait one 
more day : so, leaving Wyatt to take care of the 
camp, I went with one of the hunters in search 
of any thing in the shape of game. A thunder- 
storm coming on, I was surprised to see my 
companion always take shelter under a small 
tree in preference to a large one ; and was 
struck by his telling me, that, during his six 
years roughing it among the mountains, he had 
never seen lightning fall on small trees, the 
larger ones nearly always having a tendency to 
serve as lightning-rods. 

While walking through a dense growth of 
small firs, a cow elk ran full tilt across our path ; 
and as my companion wanted the meat and hide, 
I brought her down in her tracks stone dead, 
making a lung shot. 

Sept, 8. — At six a.m., the camp was already 
bustling with the work of packing up. We had 
plenty of fresh meat. Including the loin, sirloin, 
and plenty of tallow from the caul to take the 
place of bacon, which had given out. 

As we were riding off, a couple of "prospect- 
ors," whose camp-fire we had seen near by the 
night before, gave me some fine specimens of 
iron-pyrites. Old miners often call these bril- 
liant, though worthless, minerals, "tenderfoot 
specimens." These good-hearted fellows hav- 
ing no fresh meat, we left them some ribs of elk. 



LOST IN THE HOODOO MOUNTAINS. 289 

Riding on ahead with ''Old Reily," I got over 
the twenty-five miles which separated us from 
the Jump cabin quite easily, the others soon 
following. 

I killed some grouse on the way ; and we had 
a delicious mess of broiled birds for dinner, 
which, out here in the invigorating air, needed 
no sauce or silver dishes as an appetizer. 

Sept. 9. — After travelling northward for four 
hours, we reached Slough Creek. I thought, 
that, as the bears had come down from the 
mountains after berries, we might try our 
chances for a couple of days toward the head 
of the stream before returning home. An un- 
foreseen circumstance, however, which hap- 
pened three days later, blew my plans to the 
winds; and the castles which my imagination 
had pictured soon vanished. 

While we were passing over the rolling coun- 
try, we just caught sight of some forty antelope 
running up a steep grade, and soon disappear- 
ing from view, their white flanks glistening In 
the sunlight. 

We encamped on Slough Creek, which I shall 
always remember as the only stream that I ever 
tried in which fish actually were so plentiful that 
they rose the instant the cast was made. In 
thirty minutes I landed six trout, weighing col- 
lectively nine pounds; one, reaching while fresh 



290 FROM FIFTH A VENUE TO ALASKA. 

two and a half pounds, affording play for many 
minutes. 

Starting at three p.m., we made a detour of 
some two miles, in order to get where we 
imagined the antelope must be. As we cau- 
tiously mounted the crest of a little hill, we 
caught sight of the band, who, at the signal of 
danger from an old doe standing sentinel apart 
from the rest, galloped off on the run. Casting 
our eyes over the herd, we could see no bucks, 
though we could not refrain from taking a few 
parting shots at their fast-receding heels ; our 
volley producing no result beyond touching one 
slightly on the back, enough to make the hair 

fly- 

Sept. 10. — This morning, after proceeding a 
few miles farther, we reached a large basin, con- 
taining the heads of streams, bogs, and saw- 
grass, surrounded by high hills. After catching 
a good mess of trout, we took a good look at 
the ground, and found some freshly made black- 
tail tracks and some pretty fresh bear-signs. 

Sept. II. — As it was necessary to get a bait 
for bears in the shape of the carcass of some 
animal, Wyatt started out early on "White 
Stocking," leaving us to have a good day's fish- 
ing. Going up the stream, and casting my flies 
at Intervals into the many deep holes which 
abounded, I finally succeeded in getting a string 



LOST IN THE HOODOO MOUNTAINS. 29I 

weighing thirteen pounds. The last was a mon- 
ster. I had watched him through the clear 
water, gliding under a large half- submerged 
rock at the base of a riffle, and, seizing my 
opportunity, made my cast, using a large bright 
scarlet ibis fly. Rising instantly, he made his 
rush; and, before I had an opportunity to let 
out sufficient line, he snapped in two my dearly 
prized ten-ounce rod. Having still hold of the 
line, I played with him for a couple of minutes ; 
and after some difficulty, by placing my thumb 
and forefinger under his gills, lifted and landed 
him in safety. The scales just showed a weight 
of three pounds, which, for a speckled brook- 
trout, was the largest catch I have ever made. 

That evening, on returning, we saw an outfit 
of twenty-three horses winding down the moun- 
tain side ; on nearer approach, I recognized a 
few old acquaintances, who were escorting a 
large hunting-party of Eastern men on their 
return homewards. In return for some fresh 
fish, we received some blacktail-meat, an offer- 
ing most needed, as our store was nearly gone. 

After supper we all exchanged courtesies 
round the camp-fire. Their luck had been 
quite fair. Five miles to the eastward they ran 
upon a heard of buffaloes numbering about a hun- 
dred and eighty, out of which they killed seven. 
With the exception of one blacktail and one 



292 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

COW elk, this had been their only sport ; and 
some of them grumbled slightly at the lack of 
game, not having even seen a big-horn, of which 
they had heard so much. Being on the way 
home, they intended to start next morning for 
the Mammoth Hot Springs. Two of the men 
and four packs were going the next day back to 
the carcasses, near which seven quarters were 
hanging from the limbs of trees, covered over 
Avith bags to prevent fly-blows. 

The packers invited me to accompany them ; 
saying that they would point out the location, in 
order that we might pitch camp near by and 
watch the carcasses, which were baits for the 
bears which we were seeking. 

Sept. 12. — About seven o'clock in the morn- 
ing Wyatt came back, having killed his elk, and, 
not being able to return that day, passed the 
night by a log-fire. 

Giving orders to strike camp and follow on 
the trail up to the baits, I galloped off with the 
packers up the trail previously made by the 
twenty-three horses. The packers and I in- 
tended, when the seven quarters of buffalo -meat 
had been placed on the horses, to return the 
same way, and meet my own men coming up, 
thus being able to guide them back to where 
the remaining meat was lying, and let the 
packers return homewards, joining the rest of 



LOST IN THE HOODOO MOUNTAINS. 293 

their party somewhere near the Mammoth Hot 
Springs. As we reached an elevation, I waved 
my hand back to the still smoking fire of my 
encampment, about which I could see Wyatt 
and Murray busily engaged in getting ready to 
start. 

This was the last we ever saw of one another 
during this expedition ! 

The sun was warm and the day perfect, no 
omen warning us of imminent danger. After 
climbing and circling several of the mountains, 
the ascent being exceedingly steep, repeated 
halts were required to ease the horses ; our 
course occasionally bringing us through dense 
forests of firs, among which the trail was so 
faint that I several times anxiously inquired of 
the packers whether there was any danger of 
my men missing their way, an idea which they 
scoffed at as an impossibility for old trappers. 

Leading our horses down a little canon, we 
arrived at their old encampment on a running 
stream ; a huge fir near by presenting a curious 
appearance with its Christmas-tree load of buf- 
falo horns, quarters, and hides hanging from the 
limbs. Riding a few hundred yards farther, we 
breasted the crest of a hill; and far off on a 
plain, some six miles distant, the men pointed 
out the actual spot where the carcasses lay, 
showing me certain landmarks as guides to the 
place. 



294 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

Returning, and again expressing some fear as- 
to my men finding the trail, they repHed that 
there was not the sHghtest danger : but, if I still 
was troubled, there would be no harm in riding 
on ahead and meeting them ; saying that when 
they had finished packing the meat they would 
rejoin me, either on my way back with my own 
men, or would overtake me before I reached 
them. 

Going slowly over the back track, I shot a 
pheasant, hoping that the report would be an 
additional guide, and kept on. 

Only those acquainted with the mountains of 
the West can realize what followed. 

The sky suddenly became black. Hail, fol- 
lowed by snow, descended in terrific sheets. 
The trails almost immediately became obliter- 
ated ; and forthwith I found myself alone on a 
wild mountain top, forty miles away from the 
Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, with no idea how 
to return or proceed; added to the discomfiture, 
that, owing to the heat, I had left my leather 
hunting-coat at the last camp, it being the only 
time that I had neglected to fasten it to my 
saddle-bow. In a few minutes my horse, ''Old 
Reily," and I were enveloped in a mantle of 
snow. 

Being high up, and landmarks in the shape 
of mountains being still visible, I recalled the 



LOST IN THE HOODOO MOUNTAINS. 295 

■situation of the old camp, and kept on, hoping 
that my own men, seeing the state of things, had 
also gone back. Hungry, tired, and cold, mount- 
ed on a jaded horse which scarcely moved along, 
I finally reached the old camp; only to find it 
deserted, the fire gone out, not a morsel of food 
left, and only the three tent-poles lying on the 
ground to mark where my last night's house 
had stood. 

Turning about, ''Old Reily" again began the 
-dangerous climb ; my only hope now consist- 
ing in meeting on the hill the packers coming 
down ; and if that was unsuccessful, at all events, 
getting back to the new camp, which I con- 
cluded my men must have reached by some 
•other route, at which perhaps the packers, see- 
ing the driving snow-storm, would consider it 
best to stay for the night, instead of venturing 
down. 

Aided by the compass in discovering direc- 
tions, hour after hour I urged "Old Reily" on; 
often having to dismount and w^alk, thereby 
keeping up circulation, and aiding the poor 
brute up steep places. Once we got out of our 
reckoning, only to mire in a bog, and finally 
struggle out again. 

The snow now began to fall thicker, and even 
the hazy outlines of the distant mountains faded 
away. Being on top of a bald ridge, several 



296 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA.- 

times I fruitlessly tried to find the way down 
into the ravine where the new camp lay. 

At last we drew near ; and when only two 
hundred yards off from where I knew the place 
lay, though the heavily draped firs concealed its 
view, I fired two shots, hoping to instantly hear 
an answer. No response: not a sound, save the 
rustling of the trees, the soft fall of ever- 
increasino- flakes, the almost noiseless shuffle of 
the horse's hoofs over the powdery snow, and 
the wind howling among the craggy heights, 
which mockingly re-echoed my appeal. 

A few seconds passed by; and now I knew 
myself to be within fifty yards of where I hoped 
to find friends, fire, and wood. Again I fired, 
hoping this time to arouse the camp. On the 
instant, as the report reverberated amongst the 
hills, the fierce growl of a bear startled me to 
the full consciousness of my loneliness ; and the 
crackling and breaking of the brush told that 
Bruin, having tracked the fresh meat, and being 
discovered on the point of devouring portions 
of one of the quarters left for me, was in full 
retreat. 

As the camp broke to view, a red fox ran 
across the snow, and a few Fremont-camp birds 
reluctantly fluttered away. And thus, with night 
near at hand, I found myself lost among the 
mountains of Wyoming, twenty miles from any 



LOST IN THE HOODOO MOUNTAINS. 297 

human habitation, and that a hut, the direction 
of which I knew lay somewhere across the ridges 
toward the north-west. 

Knowing that my only hope of help lay in 
reaching the old camp, where some of the men 
might possibly be, I made the effort. 

The old camp was five miles distant. The 
way, not easy to follow even when the sun 
shone, was now rendered tenfold more difficult 
by reason of the falling darkness. 

Shaking the snow off my hunting-coat, which 
lay almost hidden by the recent fall, I cut a 
piece of raw meat from the hanging quarter, and 
placed it in my pocket, and wrote these words 
on a board, which I placed conspicuously against 
the trunk of the tree : — 

In case you find this camp, one of you return 
immediately to the old camp, which I shall leave to- 
morrow in case no help arrives, and strike out for 
the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, which I believe is 
forty miles north-west from this spot. Have only 
three matches, which I fear are wet through, and no 
food except raw flesh. E. P. 

Sept. 12, 5 o'clock. 

Just at this crisis, I found a little piece of 
bread which had been left behind, lying in the 
snow near a little sapling, — about enough for 
three or four bites. Turning the weighty mat- 



298 FROM FIFTH A VENUE TO ALASKA. 

ter over in my mind, whether I should eat it 
now or wait till morning, I concluded to wait. 

Poor old one-eyed Reily standing by me, his 
saddle already blanketed with snow, and his 
head bowed down to the ground, looked the 
picture of despair. As I once more began to 
lead the poor beast up the side of the canon to 
get to the bald crest where I might get the lay 
of the land, the poor old fellow plainly showed 
that he was on his last legs : his knees shook, 
and he seemed at every step on the point of 
lying down. Realizing that every thing de- 
pended on reaching the old camp, where I sup- 
posed that some one of the four men must have 
returned, I drew the crust from my pocket, and, 
holding it front of his nose, tantalized him until 
we reached the top, Arriving there, I had not 
the heart to deprive him : so dividing the small 
piece with him, once more we attempted the 
return. 

This bald crest had only two points of descent 
possible for a horse, — one the little trail by 
which I had just reached the summit, and 
secondly a descent on its other slope. 

The snowflakes at this moment became thicker 
than ever. Round and round we wheeled. My 
hands became nearly too numb to guide the 
horse, and it seemed as if we should never 
reach the place of descent. We could hardly 



LOST IN THE HOODOO MOUNTAINS. 299 

see twenty feet ahead ; all sides looked perpen- 
dicular ; and, although up at this great altitude, 
not a glimpse could I catch of the surrounding 
country. The bare ridge was about one mile 
in circumference, and my former horse's-tracks 
had long ago been obliterated. At last I rec- 
ognized a curiously twisted fir, and saw that I 
had been merely making a circle. 

In despair, knowing that at this altitude with- 
out fire the morning would find me frozen, 
strangely there came to my mind these words of 
Tennyson, — 

" More things are wrought by prayer 
Than this world dreams of; " 

and I earnestly prayed that for one moment the 
storm might abate, and allow me a glimpse of 
where I was. 

Hardly had I uttered the words, when one of 
the most striking incidents of my life took place. 
It may have been a mere coincidence ; but I was 
so impressed with the occurrence, that I could 
but feel that the act which the memory of Ten- 
nyson's lines prompted had something to do 
with the phenomenon which so quickly followed. 
Suddenly the wind lulled ; the snow ceased fall- 
ing; the heavy shrouds of mist which hung over 
the valley and mountain tops lifted ; and low in 
the west the declining sun, having but brief time 



300 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

of light, shone brightly. The huge lone ranges, 
as far as the eye could reach, sparkled in their 
new white robes ; and the winding stream, near 
which I knew the old camp lay, seemed but a 
mile distant. Even the tired old horse raised 
his head as if encouraged with new life. I soon 
found the hitherto hidden descent, and quickly 
gained the lower ridge, the gradual slope of 
which I knew would bring me back to camp. 

For full thirty minutes the sky remained clear^ 
with the exception of large fleecy clouds driv- 
ing across its face ; then, as suddenly, the wind 
swept through the valleys, and all became dark 
and threatening as before. Near the old camp, 
a few grouse whirred off, started up by the 
horse ; and a blacktall trotted across our road. 

On arriving, by the remaining glimpses of 
light, I found the camp had been unmolested 
during my absence, save that a fox hurried away 
from a half-eaten stale fish which my men had 
left behind. 

Perhaps the relation of this incident will be 
regarded as evidence of my superstition ; but I 
state it just as it occurred, and leave my read- 
ers to their several judgments. 

Finding that I must pass the night as best I 
could, I first fired eight shots in the hope of 
getting an answer, the result being as fruitless 
as before. Then unsaddling '' Old Reily," I 



LOST IN THE HOODOO MOUNTAINS. 30I 

fastened him by the bridle round the base of a 
small quaking-asp, thus giving him a chance to 
nibble the little he could by scraping aside the 
snow. 

Now came the important crisis : the matches, 
were they wet, or dry ? 

The snow^ had turned to a fine, drizzling rain: 
so the greatest caution had to be used. Getting 
some small logs, the dryest which I could find, 
I slivered some chips, and tried my first match. 
For one instant it flickered, gave one spasmodic 
twitch, and then puffed out ; number two did 
likewise ; and now all depended on my third 
and last hope. Lighting it, I carefully held it 
inside of my hat, and watched its course. It 
flickered, burned low, and at last blazed out with 
full yellow flame. Approaching close to my 
chips, I applied the light ; and, as if in spite, at 
this very instant came a rush of wind, and noth- 
ing remained in my hand but a charred stump, 
and all was dark again. 

Nothing remained but to wait till morning. 
So, taking the little piece of saddle-blanket, I 
wrapped it round my head and shoulders, sat 
down on the lee side of a bowlder, covered my 
feet with the saddle, and shivered. 

It was pitch dark. For one instant I caught 
sight of the moon, and then all turned to night. 
To add to my discomfiture, I had cut my thumb 



302 FROM FIFTH A VENUE TO ALASKA. 

nearly to the bone while attempting to whittle 
some chips for kindling ; and the blood was per- 
petually oozing out, appearing reluctant to ever 
cease. 

The length of that night seemed interminable, 
the only sound being the crunching of the 
horse. Once I heard a far-off noise like the 
howling of wolves, which, on coming nearer 
and nearer, proved to be a large flock of geese 
passing over my head. About midnight the sky 
cleared sufficiently for me to see the ground, 
and frighten off a couple of cayutes snarling 
at a distance. About two a.m. some jack-rabbits 
hopped into camp, rising on their hind-legs, and 
vanished on the instant. All night I either 
paced round the horse, warming my hands under 
his mane, or lay huddled on the ground crouched 
up against the rocks. 

About four A.M. a few streaks of light appeared 
in the east, and I began to get ready to start. 
The pheasant killed on the previous day still 
hung to my saddle ; and I decided, if all else 
failed, to eat it raw. 

Finding a piece of cardboard, I wrote on it 
the following words : — 

"Off in the hope of reaching Mammoth Hot 
Springs. Follow immediately. No food, no matches. 
Horse played out." 



LOST IN THE HOODOO MOUNTAINS. 303 

Tearing my handkerchief Into strips, I tied 
them into a line, fastened one end to a branch 
and the other to the rolled-up paper ; placing 
the tent-poles against the tree as Indicators. 
Mounting, I started off on my forty-mile ride, 
which, though not much on a good road with 
a fresh horse. Is something when alone among 
the mountains, weak from hunger, a horse 
nearly starved, and with no road to follow save 
a game-trail, towards which I should have sev- 
eral miles to travel before reaching. 

On we went, wading streams, and crossing 
bog-lands, three times being led astray by fresh 
elk-tracks, the extra exertion forcing me to eat 
a piece of the raw buffalo-meat which was still 
in my pocket. At last, by accident, we came 
upon the longed-for trail ; and, the snow having 
cleared away, I saw the marks of fresh horse- 
tracks, which I knew must have been made 
the day before. 

Still onward we went, fording two streams, 
into one of which the old horse fell, wetting me 
all over ; but what mattered that ? I was safe, 
feeling, that, even If the poor cayuse died, I had 
strength enough to reach the Cook's City road, 
on which there would be a chance of meeting 
some one from whom I could buy food. 

Finally, after some hours of riding and walk- 
ing, I reached the cabin near Baronett's Bridge. 



304 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA, 

Every thing was deserted, though the iron kettle 
showed signs of having lately been on a fire. 
Loosing " Old Reily," I watched him for a sec- 
ond, and felt hopeful, on observing him try to 
nibble, that he would pull through. Crossing 
the open threshold of the hut, a couple of rats 
scampered over the floor, frightened away from 
some remnants of bread and cheese which the 
last diner had left behind on the table. Only 
the hungry can really appreciate food ; and these 
few morsels, to a man who had not eaten for 
two days and a night, proved a banquet. 

Presently a young fellow entered, who had 
charge of the bridge in the absence of the 
owner ; and we soon had some tea and cooked 
beans. A drummer for a whiskey-house came 
along, and a glass of Kentucky's wine soon put 
me all right. Remembering the pheasant which 
still hung to my saddle, I gave it as my sole 
little offering ; and they soon made a meal of 
it, while I, lying on the floor, took a short nap. 

Towards evening a man whom I had met 
before came over the bridge on a buckboard ; 
and, my horse being too tired to go the remain- 
ing fifteen miles to the springs, my acquaintance 
kindly offered to give me a lift, another man 
proposing to ride "Old Reily" in, the next 
morning. After seeing that the old horse had 
a good feed of oats, we started on the buck- 
board, and reached the hotel th?,t niglit. 



LOST IN THE HOODOO MOUxVTAINS. 305 

After chatting with father, and enjoying a 
meal sitting at a real table, I got into a bed, — 
a luxury which I had not enjoyed for a whole 
month. But my sleep was not dreamless. I 
imagined myself lost far away In the snow- 
mountains and strange ghostly forests, implor- 
ing and encouraging my old starved horse to 
go on, and wondering why the ground was so 
warm and dry in the cold wet snow; and, hear- 
ing the howling winds, — 

" Starting, I waked, and for a season after, 
Could not believe but that I was " (not in the place of 
Clarence, but in the Goblin Mountains). 

The next day my horse came in, and looked 
gratefully as I gave him plenty of oats, and 
enjoyed seeing him eat. Poor old horse ! with 
whom, when both were exhausted, I divided the 
last bit of crust, the warmth of whose body 
saved me from freezing to death that awful 
night in the mountains. I now better under- 
stand why those who have survived great perils 
together become deeply attached. Adieu, a 
sorry adieu, to poor '' Old Reily " ! I sold him 
to a man who promised to treat him kindly. 

Two days later my men, with the rest of the 
horses, returned, and told their story. As I had 
supposed, they lost the trail In attempting to 
follow me, as did the packers also, and thus 



306 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

separated. They wandered far away, and were 
out all night ; but as they had food and fire, with 
plenty of blankets, and all the comforts of the 
camp, they contemplated my hopeless condition 
with much fortitude. They had fired signal- 
guns, but in that howling tempest a rifle could 
not be heard ^\^ rods. Early the next morn- 
ing they found the old camp, and read my notice, 
then started for the hotel, which they reached 
in two days. 

When I parted with my father at the Great 
Falls, he gave me a pocket-compass, saying, 
** You may need it, my boy." But for that little 
instrument, I should never have told this hunt- 
ing-story. 

" Big-horn " ascend to the highest points pos- 
sible, and when startled never look up, but 
expect danger from below. Their color, pur- 
plish gray, varies in shade according to the time 
of year ; but the hair is too brittle and crisp to 
be of service, being apt very soon to break and 
wear out. 

To the inexperienced, the animals so resemble 
in color the rocks among which they are to be 
found, that much quickness of observation is 
necessary to distinguish them from the rocks. 
They lie so quietly concealed under crags within 
a few feet of the hunter, never stirring until 



LOST IN THE HOODOO MOUNTAINS. ^OJ 

their pursuer has got by, that we found it a 
good expedient to throw pebbles down the de- 
cHvities, and thus arouse them from their hid- 
ing-places. In the early morning, before going 
lower to feed, as they stand like sentinels on 
the apex of some huge granite tower, with their 
horns cut like Grecian cameos against the sky, 
no better instance could be presented to mark 
the isolation and loneliness of the region in 
which these sturdy animals dwell. Lack of 
speed is compensated for by their agility in 
climbing ; and, knowing this, they generally live 
among the most lofty peaks of the mountains. 
Their hind-quarters, being white, give them, 
when in flight, somewhat the appearance of a 
band of antelopes ; and I have seen some mats, 
half white, half purple, made from their skins. 

In winter "■ big-horn " occasionally descend to 
lower regions in search of food, the snow driv- 
ing them from their securer retreats. A field- 
glass is absolutely necessary for hunting them, 
by the help of which much tinie is saved in 
scaling peaks and stalking. I used, while hunt- 
ing elk and big game, a .50-calibre Winchester 
rifle, pistol grip, carrying six balls, five being 
in the reserve barrel, and burning ninety-five 
grains of powder. I used both solid and ex- 
pansive balls, but found the solid much the bet- 
ter, their penetration being much more certain. 



308 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

The elk and sheep horns I had packed and 
sent home. 

To sum up my month's camping-tour, I may 
say, that, with the exception of my lone night's 
-experience above narrated, hunting in the bra- 
cing air among the high mountains of Wyoming 
is one of the most enjoyable reminiscences of 
my life. One's appetite is splendid, sleep per- 
fect, and general health excellent, — without 
which blessings what man can be happy ? and 
having which, many luxuries of civilization can 
be dispensed with. I should like to hunt again 
in the same region. 



BACK AT MAMMOTH SPRINGS HOTEL. 309 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

BACK AT MAMMOTH SPRINGS HOTEL. — THE SHOOT- 
ING OF A WOMAN. 

Sept. 16. — We were at the hotel. Towards 
nightfall a little boy came riding up to the hotel, 
on horseback, asking for the doctor ; requesting 
him to attend a woman who had been shot in 
the head by her ama^it, at a small settlement 
called Gardiner, some four miles distant. 

It was growing dark, the road was lonely, 
and the doctor asked me to go with him. We 
dashed off behind a good pair of American 
horses, and soon arrived at the scene of the 
late tragedy, — a small wooden hut, isolated in 
a dreary waste, surrounded by sage-brush. 

The utter recklessness with which the West- 
erner regards life was again shown here. Enter- 
ing the dim-lighted room, we found the woman, 
young, pretty, with dark hair and eyes, lying on 
the bed. The flame of a candle, thrown full on 
the side of her head, revealed two bullet-holes 
covered by hair clotted with blood. 

The would-be murderer — a handsome fel- 



3IO FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

low, gambler and saloon-keeper — sat on the 
edge of the bed ; his face having a sort of 
puzzled, dare-devil expression, as if in doubt 
what should be his next move. Occasionally 
he swaggered about the room, or wiped his 
forehead with a flaming-red pocket bandanna,, 
which he stuck in his belt. 

After cutting away the hair, and probing the 
wound, the ball — that of a thirty-two calibre — 
was found to have slightly depressed the skull 
three inches behind the ear, coming out at the 
back of the head. If the" ball had been a forty- 
four, death would in all probability have ensued 
immediately. The doctor, after giving her some 
morphine, and applying an ordinary compress 
bandage, and giving directions that she should 
take no food beyond tea and toast, left ; and we 
reached the hotel about nine p.m. 

The next morning (Sept. 27) we started for 
Livingston. We had to go about six miles to 
reach the station ; and, passing through the little 
village of Gardiner before mentioned, the driver 
stopped to water his horses. A remarkably 
fine-looking man came to the spring with a 
bucket, and my father asked him if the woman 
who was shot the day before was dead. 

" No," he cheerfully replied. '' All the devils 
in hell couldn't kill her." 

I at once recognized in him the very man 



BACK AT MAMMOTH SPRINGS HOTEL. 311 

who had committed the deed. But the man 
was never even arrested, nor his crime inquired 
into. In Montana, and all through that region, 
if a man steals a horse he is pretty sure to be 
hanged : if he kills a man in a brawl, or a 
woman for infidelity, he is quite sure to be let 
alone. 

In the same car which we took for Living- 
ston, there were two horse-thieves in the sheriff's 
charge. 

At the Yellowstone, and along the route, we 
saw a good many Englishmen, several of whom 
had known my father when he was Minister to 
England. Generally they were pleasant, culti- 
vated men ; but some of them, assuming " swell " 
manners to which they were not bred, were 
ludicrously awkward in their new role. But they 
revealed large capacity for being disagreeable ; 
wearing at all times (except when they hap- 
pened to forget) a furtive and defiant look, as 
if they suspected that some one would challenge 
their pretensions. These found the West *' a 
hard road to travel." 



312 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

LIVINGSTON TO ST. PAUL. 

We realized, on seeing Livingston, the rapid- 
ity with which a Western town may rise. Here 
a town of two hundred houses, well filled, has 
sprung up within ten months, looking very ex- 
temporaneous of course. 

On the 1 8th of September we left Livingston 
in the afternoon, on our way to St. Paul. We 
were surprised to find so much fertile land along 
the great Northern Pacific road. When these 
lands are setded, as they will be, the business 
of the road will be enormous: it is only a ques- 
tion of time. Over this well-made road, from 
Livingston to St. Paul, the journey is very easy. 
The Pullman cars and the dining accommoda- 
tions are excellent. 

On the evening of the 20th we reached the 
well-built, thriving city of St. Paul, where we 
met Gov. Ramsay, senator of the United States. 

For a thousand courtesies, which have made 
our Western journeyings so pleasant, we are 
largely indebted to Mr. Henry Villard, the presi- 



LIVINGSTON TO ST. PAUL. 3 I 3, 

dent of the Northern Pacific road, and of the 
companies with which it is connected. 

The Act of Congress, creating the Northern 
Pacific Railroad Company, was approved July 2, 
1864. 

The first section of the Act contains the fol- 
lowing : — 

'' And said corporation is hereby authorized and 
empowered to lay out, locate, construct, furnish, 
maintain, and enjoy a continuous railroad and tele- 
graph line, with the appurtenances, namely, begin- 
ning at a point on Lake Superior, in the State of 
Minnesota or Wisconsin ; thence westerly by the 
most eligible railroad route, as shall be determined 
by said company, within the territory of the United 
States, on a line north of the forty-fifth degree of 
latitude, to some point on Puget Sound,' with a 
branch,^ via the valley of the Columbia River, to a 
point at or near Portland, in the State of Oregon." 

The grant was, — 

" Every alternate section of public land, not min- 
eral, designated by odd numbers, to the amount of 
twenty alternate sections per mile, on each side of 
said railroad line, as said company may adopt,, 
through the Territories of the United States, and ten 
alternate sections of land per mile on each side of 
said railroad, whenever it passes through any State, 

* " Puget Sound," construed to mean all waters connected with. 
Straits of Fuca by Act of March i, 1869. 

^ Portland Branch, extended to Puget Sound, April 13, 1869. 



314 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

and whenever, on the line thereof, the United States 
have full title, not reserved, sold, granted, or other- 
wise appropriated, and free from pre-emption, or 
other claims or rights, at the time the line of said 
road is definitely fixed, and a plat thereof filed in 
the office of the Commissioner of the General Land 
Office ; and whenever, prior to said time, any of 
said sections, or parts of sections, shall have been 
granted, sold, reserved, occupied by, homestead set- 
tlers, or pre-empted or otherwise disposed of, other 
lands shall be selected by said company in lieu 
thereof, under the direction of the Secretary of the 
Interior, in alternate sections, and designated by 
odd numbers, not more than ten miles beyond the 
limits of said alternate sections." 

This grant of many millions of acres to the 
railroad caused the road to be built, and thereby 
made the half which remained to the govern- 
ment worth a thousand times more than the 
whole was before the road was constructed. 
The work was completed early in September, 
1883. 

This great railroad, starting from Duluth on 
Lake Superior, and from St. Paul on the Mis- 
sissippi River, makes junction at Brainerd, 114 
miles from Duluth and 136 miles from St. Paul. 
Portland, Or., is 1,889 miles from Duluth, and 
1,911 miles from St. Paul. 

At St. Paul we saw a Chinaman who spoke 
English pretty well, and we tried to learn from 



LIVINGSTON TO ST PAUL. 3^5 

him why it was that the Chinese left their hope- 
lessly ill to die alone. He would not talk upon 
the subject, or give the least information ; but 
he did not deny the custom, or expressly admit 
it. 



3l6 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

CHICAGO AGAIN. 

On the 24th of September we reached Chicago 
again, and met Lord Coleridge, whom my father 
had known in England. He was much inter- 
ested in Chicago, as every stranger is. It is 
a city of wonderful enterprise, and unparalleled 
in the rapidity of its growth. Its hotels, com- 
mercial blocks, and public buildings are very 
fine. The Hall of Justice is quite as imposing 
as Somerset House in London. 

We went over the great exhibition of engines, 
and viewed the latest railroad contrivances for 
facilitating shunting, coupling, and switching, to 
say nothing of Mr. Pullman's latest essays for 
comfort and convenience in his cars, made at 
the Pullman manufacturing village, some few 
miles from Chicago. We saw the ''Samson," 
in which the Prince of Wales once rode, one of 
the oldest engines in existence. It was built in 
1838, in England, for a short line in Nova 
Scotia. There was also a rickety old contri- 
vance built in 1835 ; the "John Bull," made in 



CHICAGO AGAIN. 317 

England In 1831 ; the ''Arabian," In 1834. 
Nearly side by side was — as Is generally the 
case In all shows — the great extreme, a Shaw 
locomotive, vast In height, built during the last 
year, having made a mile In forty-seven seconds. 

If from 1783 to 1883 we have seen such 
marvels, what, with Increased facilities for Inven- 
tion, can w^e not hope for In the next century ? 
Shall we not navigate the air, skim mountains, 
and use a means of destruction akin to ''vril,'' 
which Bulwer speaks of in his ''Coming Race"? 

Went over the Calumet Club, which certainly 
Is very beautiful. 

Chicago, from its geographic position, its 
natural advantages for commerce, and from the 
marvellous enterprise of its citizens, is destined 
to become one of the great cities of the earth. 
Its wealth is too rapid, and its extravagance too 
great, for Its own good. 

We found that the people of Chicago take 
their fashions from New York (as we take ours 
from England), in which they have lately had 
eminent success. A young man who had seen 
polo at Newport wished to Introduce the fashion- 
able game in Chicago; and, selecting nine other 
youths, they proclaimed the day when the tour- 
nament would take place. The fashion, on 
horseback. In victorias, landaus, and with four- 
in-hand, repaired to the field. These handsome 



3l8 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

young men, gorgeous in their tightly fitting 
togs, mounted their ten ponies, — each of reg- 
ulation height, — took their places, and waited 
the signal to charge. The spectators looked 
on in breathless suspense. The signal was 
given — and, as if by preconcerted arrangement 
among those mustangs, each bucked his man 
into the air and over his head ! The mallets 
were all dropped ; and without a rider every 
pony ran away, and some of them were not 
caught for two days after. Even in polo-play- 
ing, Chicago can beat the world. 



HOME AGAIN. ' 319 



CHAPTER XXX. 

HOME AGAIN. 

Here, at the end of September, we are back 
in New York all safe and well, after an interest- 
ing journey, in which we saw every variety of 
scenery and life. And now, as I sit on the 
veranda of our country-house on the Hudson, 
and look across the river to West Point, and 
over the Newburgh Bay towards the Catskill 
Mountains, I feel that I have seen nothing more 
beautiful, and fully realize that *' there is no 
place like home." 

Note. — On our journey, discussions frequently arose 
touching the questions of latitude and longitude, distances, the 
difference in time, the difference between a geographic and an 
English mile, and as to how the length of a nautical mile was 
determined, and what was meant by the metric system. 

These questions are answered in the next chapter. 



320 FROM FI^TH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

CHAPTER NOT TO BE READ. 

This dry chapter of dates, distances, differ- 
ences in time, etc., should be omitted by the 
general reader. It contains information quite 
elementary ; familiar to the well-instructed school- 
boy, and mostly forgotten by mature people. 

An imaginar)^ line drawn around the earth, 
equidistant at every point from the poles, and 
dividing the globe into two hemispheres, — the 
north and the south, — is called the equato7\ 

This great equatorial circle is divided into 
three hundred and sixty degrees ; each degree, 
into sixty minutes ; each minute, into sixty sec- 
onds. 

A minute of the degree is a geographic or 
nautical mile. 

The nautical mile differs in length from our 
English mile : the nautical mile is the length of 
a sixtieth part of a degree of the equator. 

The English mile, which came to us by in- 
heritance, has no natural basis whatever. It 
is purely arbitrary, — created by statute 35 of 



CHAPTER NOT TO BE READ. 32 1 

Queen Elizabeth, making 320 rods, or 5,280 
feet, a mile : hence it is often called a " statute 
mile." The Roman mile was 438 feet shorter 
than the English mile. The German mile is 5 1 
English miles. The German short mile is about 
four times the English mile. The Danish and 
Prussian mile each is 4.7 English miles. The 
Swedish mile is 6.648 English miles. The 
French kilometre is but 0.6213 of an English 
mile. Sixty nautical miles are generally stated 
to equal 692- English miles, but this is not strict- 
ly accurate. All geographic calculations are 
made in nautical miles : hence the circumfer- 
ence of the earth is but 21,600 nautical miles, — 
that is, 24,9043^3 miles English. 

Latitude is the distance north or south from 
the equator, and is reckoned in degrees. A 
parallel of latitude is a line drawn around the 
globe, equidistant at every point from the equa- 
tor. A meridian is a circle drawn around the 
globe, passing through the poles, and cutting 
the equator at right angles. Latitude is reck- 
oned from the equator, either north or south. 
Longitude is reckoned from some meridian east 
or west. Any place may be selected as the 
meridian from which to depart, and differs in 
different countries. In France, Paris Is taken ; 
in England, the Royal Observatory at Green- 



322 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

wich ; in America, Greenwich is generally adopt- 
ed. Both in navigation and geography, the 
nautical mile is used, which is a minute of an 
equatorial degree. Several astronomers have 
measured the degree, but no two make It the 
same exact length. Of course a nautical mile 
is the sixtieth part of an equatorial degree ; but 
how many rods or English feet equal the sixti- 
eth part of the degree ? The English compute 
it at 6,087.84 feet ; the Americans, at 6,086 feet; 
but different authors vary somewhat. It is suf- 
ficiently accurate to say that a nautical mile Is 
807 feet longer than an English mile. 

Whenever the sun in his course crosses a 
given meridian, it Is 7nid-day along that meridi- 
an. The sun passes over one degree in four 
minutes of time; it takes sixty minutes of time 
to pass over fifteen degrees of space. 

New York is 74° west longitude. A place 
which is 89° west will be reached just one hour 
later. Four minutes of time are required to 
pass over each degree, and four seconds of time 
to pass each second of a degree. 

Having the longihide, to find the time. — Mul- 
tiply the degrees, minutes, and seconds by 4, 
and the product Is the time. 

New York is 74° west longitude. 

74X4=296 minutes, which equals 4 hours 
and 56 minutes. 



CHAPTER NOT TO BE READ. 323, 

Having the time, to Jind the longitude. — 
Reduce the hours to minutes ; and, if there are 
seconds also, divide the minutes and seconds 
by 4. 

San Francisco is 8 hours, 9 minutes, and 44 
seconds slow, Greenwich time : that is, 489 min- 
utes 44 seconds ; divided by 4= 122° 26' west 
longitude. 

A watch, taking the true time at New York, 
as every one knows, will be too slow if carried 
east, and too fast if carried west ; but its gain 
or loss does not depend upon the miles trav- 
elled, but upon the degrees of longitude reached. 
In going towards the east or west, you may 
travel a thousand miles, and not gain or lose so 
much in time as you would if going due east or 
west only fifty miles on a parallel of latitude. 
The difference in time depends wholly upon the 
difference in meridian. If you travel due west 
nine hundred geographic miles, you will gain 
one hour in time ; but in reaching the same 
point you may travel two thousand miles, and 
gain no more in time. 

The following table contains the length of a 
degree of longitude for each degree of lati- 
tude : — 



324 



FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 



o 


Miles. 


i 




Miles. 


^ i Miles. 





Miles. 





Miles. 


i 



Miles. 


I 


59-99 


16 


57-67 


31 51-43 


46 


41.68 


61 


29.09 


76 


14.52 


2 


59-96 


17 


57 •3« 


32 


50.88 


47 


40.92 


62 


28.17 


77 


13-50 


3 


59-92 


18 


57.06 


^?> 


50-32 


48 


40.15 


63 


27.24 


78 


12.47 


4 


59-85 


19 


56-73 


34 


49-74 


49 


39-36 


64 


26.30 


79 


11-45 


5 


59-77 


20 


56.38 


35 


49-15 


50 


38.57 


65 


25-36 


80 


10.42 


6 


59-67 


21 


56.01 


36 


48.54 


51 


37-76 


66 


24.40 


81 


9-39 


7 


59-55 


22 


55-63 


37 


47-92 


52 


36.94 


67 


23-44 


82 


8-35 


8 


59-42 


2.3 


55-23 


3« 


47.28 


53 


36.11 


68 


22.48 


83 


7-31 


9 


59.26 


24 


54.81 


39 


46.63 


54 


35-27 


69 


21.50 


84 


6.27 


TO 


59.08 


25 


54 -3« 


40 


45-96 


55 


34-41 


70 


20.52 


85 


5-23 


II 


58.89 


26 


53-93 


41 


45-28 


56 


33-55 


71 


19-53 


86 


4.19 


12 


58.68 


27 


53-46 


42 


44.59 


57 


32.68 


72 


18.54 


87 


3-14 


1.3 


58.4b 


28 


52-97 


43 143-88 


58 


31.80 


1Z 


17-54 


88 


2.09 


14 


58.22 


29 


52-47 


44 43-16 


59 


30.90 


74 


16.54 


89 


1.05 


15 


57-95 


30 


51.96 


45 142.43 


60 


30.00 


75 


15-53 


90 


0.00 



Gerard Mercator was born In the Netherlands 
in 15 12. He pubHshed a chart in 1556, which 
some forty years later came into general use 
in navigation. In the Mercator charts and 
maps, the earth is supposed to be a sphere ; 
yet the meridians, instead of converging towards 
the poles, as they do on the globe, are drawn 
parallel to each other. The distance between 
the meridians, therefore, is everywhere too 
great, except at the equator. To compensate 
for this, the degrees of latitude are proportion- 
ally enlarged. On the artificial globe, and on 
maps taken therefrom, the parallels of latitude 
are drawn at equal distances ; but on Mercator s 
chart the distances between the parallels increase 
from the equator to the poles, so as everywhere 



CHAPTER NOT TO BE READ. 



325 



to have the same ratio to the distances between 
the meridians which they have on the globe. 
For example, in latitude 60° the distance be- 
tween the meridians is but half what it is at 
the equator : hence a degree of latitude is there 
represented as twice as great as at the equator. 

A map constructed upon the principles of 
'' Mercator's Projection" presents the entire 
surface of the earth upon a single plane, which 
is a rectangular parallelogram. 

The maps and charts in this book are con- 
structed upon Mercator's plan ; and thus Alaska 
is shown in its true relation to British Colum- 
bia, to the United States, and to Asia. 

Places in Europe and America of nearly the same 
Latitude. 



Paris . 
Madrid 

Naples 



. 48° 50' N. Victoria ... 48° 254' N. 
. 40° 25' New York . . 40° 42'" 

. 40° 51' Montauk Point. 40° 04' 



Rome . 

Cannes . 

Balmoral 
Aberdeen 



41° 55' 



43° 31' 



57° 03' 
57° 09' 



r Newport . 
( Chicago . 

Boston . 
(Mexico . 



41° 39' 
41° 37' 



. 42 41 
. 19° 20') 



Sitka (Alaska) . 57° 30' 



North Cape of 
Norway. . .71' 



Pt. Barrow (Alas- 
ka) .... 7: 



13' 



When it is midnight at Canton, it is midday at New York. 



S26 



FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 



Distances from New York to San Francisco and Places 

i7ttermediate, by Union and Central Pacific. 
New York to Chicago . 
Chicago to Omaha 
Omaha to Sherman 
Omaha to Continental Divide 

" to Thousand- Mile Tree 

" to Ogden 

'' to Wadsworth . 

" to California line 

" to Summit 

'' to Sacramento . 
Sacramento to San Francisco 
New York to San Francisco 

Distances from New York to Portland and to Astoria by 
Northern Pacific. 



913 


mil( 


501 


u 


549 


(( 


737 


n 


1,000 


({ 


1,032 


(( 


1,587 


a 


-^.^zz 


« 


1,667 


a 


1,776 


a 


91 


iC 



Nev 
Chi< 

St.] 


i York to Chicago 
:ago to St. Paul . 

^aul to Minneapolis 
' to Brainard . 


913 miles. 
409 " 

10 miles. 
. 136 " 


1,322 miles^ 


i 


' to Fargo 


274 " 




i 


' to Bismarck . 


469 " 




( 


' to Mandan . 


474 " 




t 


' to Glendive . 


690 " 




< 


* to Billings . 

* to Livingston 
' to Bozeman . 


915 " 
1,030 " 

1,055 " 




( 


' to Helena . 


1,154 " 




i 


' to Portland . 


. 


1,911 " 


Portland to Astoria, by boat 


• • • • 


3,233 miles. 
120 " 


Nev 


V York to Astoria 


• • • • 


3,353 miles. 



CHAPTER NOT TO BE READ. 327 

The Metric System of lengths, weights, and 
measures of capacity, etc., introduced into 
France many years ago, and since adopted by 
many of the Continental governments, is based 
upon the idea of an unchangeable natural stand- 
ard, the multiples and subdivisions of which 
follow in decimal progression. 

By measuring an arc of the meridian, the 
distance from the equator to the pole — meas- 
ured as along the surface of still water — was 
calculated : this was divided into ten million 
parts ; and one of these parts was taken for 
the unit of length, and called a metre, from the 
Greek word ^i^rpov (a measure). 

The unit of capacity, both dry and liquid, is 
called a litre, and is a cubic measure of which 
the side is a tenth part of the metre. 

The weight of the volume of distilled water 
at the greatest density (39^.29 Fah.) which this 
cubic measure can contain is called a kilogram ; 
a thousandth part of which is made the unit of 
weight, and denominated a gram. 

The units of length, superficies, solidity, and 
weight, are all correlative ; two data only being 
used, — the metre, and the weight of the cube 
of water. 

The multiples of these measures, proceeding 
in decimal progression, are marked by the pre- 
fixes, deca, hecta, kilo, myria, taken from the 



328 FROM FIFTH AVENUE TO ALASKA. 

Greek numerals ; and the subdivisions follow- 
ing the same order, by deci, centi, milli, from 
the Latin numerals. 

By careful measurement the metre was found 
to be 39.3707904 English inches; and stand- 
ards of the metre and of the kilogram were 
constructed, and deposited among the archives 
of France, where they remain. 

But in American measure the metre is 39.- 
36850535 inches: the American standard yard 
being longer than the English by 0.00087 inch. 

A foot as established by law in the United 
States equals ^^^ of the length of a seconds- 
pendulum in the City Hall of the city of New 
York. 

The A7^e is the unit of surface in the metric 
system, and contains 100 square metres^ which 
equal 119.6 square yards. 

The Litre is the unit of the measures of ca- 
pacity, both dry and liquid, and is the volume 
of a cubic decimetre containing 1.0567 liquid 
quarts. 

The Kilogra7n equals in weight 2.2046 
pounds. 

The Gram equals in weight 15.432 grains 
avoirdupois. 

It is a decimal system, wonderful in its sim- 
plicity, and of unvarying perfection ; under it 
there is but one kind of weight or measure or 



CHAPTER NOT TO BE READ. 329. 

Standard of capacity, and all calculations are 
made in the most easy manner. 

It was adopted in France in 1801 ; it was 
legalized in England in 1844, and also in the 
United States two years later. But neither in 
England nor America has its adoption been 
made compulsory, nor has its use become gen- 
eral. 



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